Lullaby
by loritrelaweny
Summary: During the summer between fifth and sixth year, everybody loses touch with Harry, and they decide to do something about it. Warning: depictions of abuse and violence
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: None of the ppl in this story are mine.

**Lullaby**

_Emerald eyes screwed nearly shut, pudgy little hands balled into fists, the black haired infant bawled his rage at the world in general. His nappy was wet, he didn't know where his mum was, and he was hungry. As with most babies, he made his displeasure known to all, or at least his parents. A moment later, he saw a curtain of beautiful auburn hair, framing eyes the same brilliant green as his own. Then, he was in the air, and landing on her shoulder, feeling a hand rub his back. His cries subsided, as he heard a clear sweet voice singing softly to him._

_Hush, little baby, don't say a word._

_Momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird._

_If the mockingbird won't sing,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a diamond ring._

_If the diamond ring turns into brass,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a looking glass._

_If the looking glass gets broke,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a billy goat._

_If the billy goat runs away,_

_Momma's gonna buy you another today._

_As his mother sang to him, fifteen-month old Harry slowly fell asleep, secure in his mother's arms.The next day, Lily, his mother, and James, his father, died trying to protect him. He would never again feel her soothing touch, see that curtain of auburn hair or those green eyes so like his own. Sometimes though, in his dreams, he would hear her again, singing, and it would almost be enough._

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Dear Harry,

_How is your summer going? Are those _muggles _treating your alright? I know you're taking all the blame for what happened to Sirius. Stop it. I know you miss him,but you're not the only one. I miss him too. Last summer, talking to him was the one thing that helped me keep my sanity, around Ron and 'Mione. I got to know him well and I think he'd be really angry at you for feeling like his death was your fault. He loved you so much. Do you realize how much you're dishonoring his memory this way? You really are, you know. Of course, he would want you to miss him, but Merlin! He would also want you to get on with your life, as well. Maybe I shouldn't have said all of this, but I had to. I know everybody else has been pussy-footing around with you, but I can't really abide that. Be mad at me if you want, but I just had to say it. Hope to see you soon. _

_Love,_

_Ginny_

Sealing the letter in an envelope, she tied it to Pig's leg, and took the eager little owl to the window. "Take this to Harry. To Harry." He gave her an affectionate nip, and flew off into the sky.

She woke two days later to find pig outside her window with the same letter attached to his leg as when he left. Ginny retrieved the small scroll from him, and let him return to his perch. Worrying more and more about the situation, she paced back and forth, becoming more anxious. It had been three weeks since the end of term, and nobody in the house had heard anything from Harry. On top of that, this was the sixth letter that had come back to her. After a bit, she heard a pop behind her and turned to see Remus Lupin standing there. He looked worried, and asked if any of them had heard anything from Harry.

"No, we haven't, and I'm worried. This isn't like Harry at all." was the answer she gave.

He looked at her with an expression of unease. "Neither have I."

He looked around then, noticing the quiet in the normally boisterous household. "Where's everybody else?"

"Well, Ron's at the Twin's shop, helping them stock shelves, getting ready to open. They want to make sure everything's up and running before all the Hogwart's students go to get their supplies for the school year. Mum's in the village, shopping."

She sat down now, and watched him pace. There was only really room in the small living room for one person to wear a path in the already worn rug. Finally, a look of determination came over his tired face.

"That's it. We're going to go get him."

Ginny looked at him and asked "Do you think he's been there long enough for that the blood protection to take hold?"

He sat and thought about it for a few moments, finally answering "Yes. Yes he has. I'm going to talk to Dumbledore.".

He tossed a pinch of glittery powder into the grate. A moment later, he saw the office of Hogwart's headmaster materialize in the fireplace. "Albus? Are you there?"

The silver haired wizard came into view, and saw the obvious worry in Lupin's face. "Is something the matter, Remus?"

"Yes. Nobody has had any word from Harry this summer. Have you?"

"No. I confess that with everything that's been going on this summer, I have neglected to check in with him. Would you do that for me?"

"I'd like to, actually. The reason I called was to get a portkey, just in case."

The headmaster nodded thoughtfully. "Good idea. I think I'll set it for the hospital wing, so that Madame Pomfrey may be able to take care of him immediately, if needed. I will alert her directly. I sorely hope that it will not be, but best to be prepared." He disappeared for a moment, returning with a quill in hand. "If you find that Harry is in need of assistance, the activation word is Poppy." He put it between Remus' lips and with a last nod, straightened.

Pulling his head from the fireplace, Remus removed the quill from his mouth. As he tucked it into his jacket pocket, he thought about the best way to get there. Ginny wasn't of age for Apparation yet. "There's an older lady in Harry's neighborhood who's connected to the Floo network. We can go over to her place, then walk from there."

The young witch was on her feet in an instant. "When do we go?"

Remus answered, "Now's as good a time as any."

They left a quick note letting Molly know where they were going, and Remus took another pinch from the pot and tossed it into the flames. They stepped in to the fire together after calling out 'Arabella Figg.'

The pair stepped from the fire place at the other end, seeing Miss Figg seated in an armchair on the other side of the room. She looked up from the book she was reading and said " Well hello Remus. Is there something going on that I should know about?"

"Actually, yes. Nobody has heard from Harry this summer and we're all a bit worried."

Ginny piped in now. "Actually, we're a lot worried and we're going to go check on him right now."

Miss Figg replied with a frown, "I've been wondering when someone would come by to do that. I haven't seen him all summer myself. Please, let me know what you find out."

Remus replied, "We will. But now i think it's time we get going."

They walked out the door and headed toward number 4 Privet drive. When the two of them arrived at the front door, Remus knocked. They waited for a moment for an answer, and when none came, he knocked again. After another moment they heard a loud yell. A fire ignited in the werewolf's eyes, as he drew his wand, blasting the door with a shouted _reducto._

The scene that met their eyes was of Vernon's rather large backside filling the hallway, with his head inside the cupboard under the stairs. He was yelling so loud they thought he would bring down the staircase. "_What_ did you think you were doing, bringing those books out where _normal_ people could see them? Do you have any _idea_ how close Marge came to seeing them, you _freak?"_

Ginny's eyes widened for a moment as she took in this scene, then narrowed, as she realized who Vernon must have been speaking to. Her wand out, she advanced on his backside. The irate young witch was about to mutter an incantation, when she felt a hand on her arm. She looked up and saw Lupin's face, as he cautioned her, "Remember, you're still bound by underage wizardry restrictions." His eyes took on an unearthly, almost feral light. "I, however, am not. When I get this great oaf out of the way, I want you to use this portkey and get Harry to Hogwarts." He handed her the quill, and looked toward the huge pair of buttocks looming in front of him.

Remus' voice roared "Dursley!" Vernon tried to straighten up, but as he did so his head hit the top of the door frame with a loud thud. Vernon snarled at Harry one last time. Backing himself out of the cupboard, he turned to Lupin standing behind him, seeing a look of fury on the other man's face. Remus looked at Vernon and said, "We need to talk. Through there." He pointed toward the sitting room. As Vernon turned to shut the door, Ginny ran under his arm. She knelt at Harry's side and laid the quill on his arm. Just before she activated the portkey, she couldn't help but think how bad he looked.

Vernon Dursley was enraged, his face almost purple with apoplexy. How _dare_ these _freaks_ bring their...their _abnormalities _into _his_ house off all places! He turned, to give this interfering freak a piece of his mind and the thrashing the man so deserved. What he saw made him stop in his tracks, and back-pedal several paces, before he remembered that this was his own house, and stop to hold his ground. He tried to, at any rate. When he looked at the man in front of him, he saw a man a few years younger than him, but with just a bit of gray hairs sprinkled through the brown on his head. He was obviously holding himself in check by sheer force of will. The hairs on the back of Vernon's neck stood on end.

Remus looked up then, and Vernon started to know what terror was. There was an almost unholy light shining in Remus' eyes. No wand was visible, but with the way he was throwing off magic, it was obvious he didn't need it right now. He started to move towards Vernon, and things started happening. He passed a glass lamp, and it shattered. A heavy crystal vase exploded, sending shards across the room. One even penetrated the flesh of his leg. He barely paused to pull it out, and Dursley was shocked to see the blood stop as quickly as it had started. It seemed the wound had healed almost instantly. Soon, the quivering mass of Vernon Dursley was backed up against the wall, the smaller but more impressive form of Remus Lupin standing just inches from him. He tried to speak, to stand up for himself, but the look in the madman's eyes was enough to dry his voice in his throat. That was probably the only thing that saved his life.

Remus' arms shot from his sides to either side of the fat wretch's neck, punching through the wall. Dursley felt a warm wetness spreading down his legs, knowing he was lucky his bladder was the only thing that let go.

With his fists still punched through the wallboard, Remus pinned the porcine man with a stare. His voice was low and filled with fury. "Dursley, if you ever touch Harry again, ever speak a cross word to him, or allow anyone else to do so, you will regret the day you were ever born. _You_, Vernon, will _wish_ that Voldemort had gotten ahold of you. Harry is_ never_ coming back here, and I will personally see to it that the protection is withdrawn from this house." His grin spread across his face at the prospect, the dead light never leaving his eyes. "Now, I am going to collect all of Harry's things, and he will never have to see your big, fat, piggy arse again.. He withdrew his hands from the wall and started to turn away. He stopped and said, "Blow this for a lark." He then sent his knee crashing up between Vernon's legs, sending him toppling to the no longer neat carpet. As Vernon lay there vomiting his guts out from the pain, Remus rummaged through the cupboard, then up to the smallest bedroom. He wanted to make sure nothing was left behind. After a few moments of searching, he decided to do this the easy way. He drew his wand from inside his jacket and said, "_Accio_ Harry's things." A few quills, a couple of pieces of parchment, and a sneakoscope were the only things to answer the summons. The rest of his posessions must still be in the trunk at the foot of the bed. He packed the last few things in there, and headed downstairs.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw Vernon getting up off the floor. The large, purple faced man attempted to charge Remus then. Remus simply moved to the side, watching Dursley crash headfirst into the door, knocking himself out. The former professor set the trunk down and crouched to look around the cupboard Harry had been in. As he looked around the enclosed space, he became even more incensed by the obvious mistreatment Harry had suffered. A dangerous glint in his eyes, he drew his wand once more to mutter, _"Mobilicorpus."_ Vernon, still unconscious, floated in the air. Remus moved him into the too small cupboard and ended the spell quite abruptly. Harry's uncle crashed heavily to the floor, landing on his head. Remus then closed the cupboard door, while saying _"Colloportus."_ The door was now locked, but somehow, this didn't seem quite enough. His face lit up as the next spell came to mind. _"Copularcus."_ A blue light danced around the edge of the door, as the wood joined with that around it, sealing until it looked like it was all one piece. The metal grate in the middle of what used to be the door still remained, and the werewolf moved close to it. He aimed his wand through the space and said, _"Ennervate."_ Vernon came awake now, clearly confused as to where he was and how he'd gotten there. The wizard spoke in an intense yet quiet voice. "Vernon, if you think that is such an adequate space for someone you are supposed to be caring for to live in, then you won't mind spending a little time there yourself." With that, Remus shrunk Harry's school trunk to a size small enough to fit in his pocket, and walked out the door, to head back down the street to Mrs Figg's.

The last thing Harry heard before Ginny activated the portkey was the cupboard door slamming, and his Uncle Vernon stomping in to the sitting room. When Harry and Ginny landed in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, Harry passed out cold, knowing that he was now somewhere safer. It was quite a while, before his eyes opened again. Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office. She took one look at him and levitated Harry to the nearest bed. When he was settled the nurse did a quick exam, then went to the fire place and called the Headmaster.

Albus Dumbledore walked into the hospital wing, looking for Madame Pomfrey and asked her, "How bad is he?"

Pomfrey replied, "He's malnourished, has a broken leg, and a few bruised ribs."

Ginny let the nurse fill in the headmaster, then rounded on him asking, "How could you not check, when you hadn't gotten any word from him?"

Dumbledore's gaze dropped as he replied to her very valid query. "I can only say that I never saw any sign that his family would treat him that way. He hid it very well, from all of us, but, alas, I should have known better than to trust them so far."

The young witch was livid. "His _family? How_ could you even refer to them that way? _That_ is no family! Especially to him!" She had her momentum up now, and not even Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard currently living, could stop her. "He is supposedly the hope of the wizarding world. You and the Order are convinced that he is supposed to be the one to save us all, Merlin knows how! If that's so, how could you not keep a closer eye on the situation, protect him? For that matter, why does he have to be with a _family_ he needs protection from?"

Dumbledore replied, " I know I should have kept a better eye on things, but who could have ever guessed that his aunt and uncle would do this to him?"

Ginny shook her head disgustedly, as she turned her back on the headmaster, to go back to Harry's side.

About an hour after Harry and Ginny arrived in the hospital wing, Remus stepped from the fire. He did a quick cleaning spell on himself, so that he wouldn't track soot all over the place. He went straight for the office, knocking on the door before entering. Madam Pomfrey looked up to see Remus settling into a chair across the desk from her, with a disgusted look on his face.

Hesitantly, she asked, "I take it those muggles are as bad as Miss Weasley said?"

Remus just nodded his head and said, "Yes. It's hard to believe that Harry has survived all this time. After we talked to them at the train station in Kings Cross, they put him back in the cupboard under the stairs. That's why no one had any word from him so far this summer."

Now it was Lupin's turn to ask her, "So how is he and how long will he be here? Harry is supposed to go to the Burrow for the rest of the summer."

Madam Pomfrey described his condition and finished with "He's also extremely malnourished. I'd like to keep an eye on him, so I'd have to say four or five days."

Remus turned, looking through the office door. He saw Ginny sitting at Harry's bedside, trying to comfort the still unconscious young wizard. "Well, I'd say that you'd better make sure to set aside accomodations for Ginny. She looks pretty determined to make sure he's alright. I'd better go to the Burrow, and let Molly know what's going on. She'll be worried, especially with Ginny not there."

"Yes, well, _you_ can be the one to explain to Mrs Weasley, where her daughter is."

"Gee, thanks." As he started to get up, Madame Pomfrey saw his hands.

"Remus! What did you do to your hands? However did they get in such a state? Sit back down."

He hadn't even noticed his hands hurt, until she mentioned it. He looked down and saw that his knuckles were raw and starting to bleed. The medi-witch turned to a cabinet on the wall, bringing out a roll of gauze. She quickly cleaned the wallboard dust from his knuckles, applied a healing salve, and wrapped the hand securely, uttering a binding spell, to ensure the dressing wouldn't come off. As she started on the other hand, she got the story out of Remus, as to how his hands had gotten this way, and why Harry looked the way he did when he'd arrived.

"I probably shouldn't mention this, Remus, but it's obvious that this isn't the first broken bone that poor boy has had. It's just the first one that has had proper treatment, excepting those due to quidditch or on his various adventures. If we were in the muggle world, I'd be calling for some type of social worker to visit those people."

By now, the other hand was cleaned and dressed. "Thanks, Poppy. Now, I'll just check on Harry, then head to see Molly."

"Good luck, Remus."

He nodded and walked out to Harry's bed, placing his hand on Ginny's back. The fiery young witch was holding one of Harry's hands, her other hand over the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Remus took a good look at Harry for the first time. What he saw absolutely appalled him. The young wizard's body was covered in vivid bruises in every color of the rainbow. The leg was in a cast, and Harry was thinner than he'd been in quite some time. Every rib was visible. The older man wanted to retch, but held it in.

"Ginny, I'm going to go let your mother know what's going on. I take it you'd like to stay here?" At her nod, he asked, "Anything you'd like me to bring back for you, besides some clothes?"

"Just some comfortable things to wear, please, Professor Lupin. Also, would you have Mum send something along for Harry? I know he likes her treacle tarts."

"Good idea, Ginny. He'll need something familiar when he wakes up." Giving her shoulder a quick squeeze, he turned to walk to the fireplace. He tossed a pinch of glittery powder into the flames, saying, "The Burrow."

A moment later, he was at his destination. The house was still empty, so he walked out the door to relax in the fresh air. Allowing himself to think about the condition Harry was in, he did retch now, voiding his stomach of it's contents. As he stood back up, he saw Molly coming down the path from the road, bags in her arms.

As she drew nearer, Molly saw who was sitting outside her door. She was a bit concerned, realizing his presence must have something to do with either Harry or the Order. He rarely visited, otherwise. "Hello, Remus. Is something going on that we should know about?" She swept through the door he held open for her. She set the bags down on the kitchen table, starting to put everything away. Just as she was about to call for Ginny, she realized that he hadn't answered as he'd followed her in. She looked at him again, now seeing the look in his eyes. It was a haunted look, and it worried her. There weren't too many things he worried about to that extent these days, with a roof over his head and steady work. "Remus? What's wrong? Is it about Harry?"

He nodded, and started explaining. By the time he had finished, Molly was livid. "Why did _nobody_ check on him? What is Albus thinking?" She raged on, venting her rage at Dunbledore, 'those horrible muggles', and the situation in general.

"I don't know, Molly. I promise you, though, I _will_ get answers. In the meantime, Ginny asked for a few changes of clothing, comfortable stuff she said, and a basket for when Harry wakes. She's determined to stay there until she's sure he _will_ wake. Could you get that together?"

Molly sank into a chair at the table, her head in her hands. Her shoulders shook as she realized what had been going on under everybody's noses, even her own. He moved around behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder, lending her his own support. Finally, she looked up at him.

"Remus, how could we have missed all this? I'm a _mother,_ for the love of Merlin! How could I _not_ see what was going on?"

Remus crouched to face her. "Molly, I don't know, really. All I can think is that, because you _are_ such a good mother, and would never dream of treating your own children that way, you can't envision anyone else treating someone in their care the way _they_ did." He stood now and continued. "So. What did you want me to pack for Harry from the kitchen, while you get Ginny's things? She did mention that he likes your treacle tarts." A small smile came up on his face. "Though, he'd have to be more daft than Rita Skeeter said he was, _not_ to like them. Where do you keep them?"

At his gentle teasing, she gave in to a small blush. "Alright then, Remus. The tarts are in the cabinet over the sink. Just made some yesterday, as a matter of fact. Mind you, they're for him, so don't go sneaking any." At his feigned look of innocence, she pushed him to the indicated cabinet, and told him the other things to pack for when Harry awoke. She said she would place a charm on the basket to keep everything fresh. As he was getting it all together, she bustled upstairs and packed some things for her daughter, proud that Ginny was so dead set on helping someone who obviously needed the assistance right now. Of course, she knew that a large part of it was down to the fact that, no matter what her daughter might say to the contrary, she was still very much in love with Harry. As she packed, Molly gave a silent prayer that the raven haired boy might finally notice what had been under his nose all along, and give Ginny a chance. No matter how much of a risk it might be, in too many ways, he needed to have a reason to survive the confrontation that she knew would one day be his fate. She was supremely confident that her daughter could give him that.

Once she had a bag ready for Ginny, she headed back downstairs to rejoin Remus. When she reached the bottom of the steps, she saw Lupin sitting in a chair at the table, lost in his own thoughts. As she watched him a moment, she saw how much this all affected him. Slowly, she approached him.

"Remus? Are you alright?"

Startled, he turned around. "Sorry, Molly. Just woolgathering, I guess. I was just thinking about the fact that, now Sirius is gone, I'm the only one left. I guess I can't blame Dumbledore too much. After all, James was my best friend, and I have an obligation that I'd better start fulfilling a little better. I should have kept a better eye on the situation myself."

Molly chuckled a moment, confusing the former professor. "Sorry, Remus dear. You know, I was thinking not long ago, wondering where Harry gets the tendency he has to take on the blame for everything that goes wrong around him. I think I know now, with the example we've been setting here."

Remus smiled at the irony, as well as the truth in what she was saying, and had to chuckle a bit at it. "You're right, I suppose." His face turned more serious again, as he got up to leave. "Molly, I need to warn you, before we go. Harry's condition right now looks quite as bad as it is. Just do yourself a favor, and try to hold in your reaction to his appearance until we leave the hospital wing. It'll be better all round."

She almost protested at this, but stopped. If it had affected this man so deeply, it had to be bad. After all, with the life he had been forced to live, not to mention some of the things he had seen in his work with the Order, she was sure there was not much that would faze him. Thanking him for the warning, they moved together towards the fireplace.

As they stepped from the grate in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, the first thing the two of them noticed was the privacy screen around a bed across the ward. The second thing they noticed was the sound of a sweet, clear, strong voice, singing. Molly knew at once that it was Ginny, having heard her sing before, though not for a long time.

_Hush, little baby, don't say a word._

_Momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird._

_If that mockingbird don't sing,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a diamond ring._

As she listened to Ginny sing, she was drawn to the bed that was cordonned off. She crept quietly over there, not wanting to disturb anything. Molly carefully peeked through a space between two of the screens, to see her daughter sitting beside Harry, holding one of his hands in her own, her other on his forehead. Though battered and bruised, he seemed to have the most peaceful expression on his face that Molly had ever seen him wear. Quietly, she retreated back to Lupin. She followed him back to Madame Pomfrey's office, carefully shutting the door and casting a quick silencing spell, before breaking down in tears.

"That poor, poor, boy. How he could endure all of that, and turn out the way he has, is just incredible. Such a sweet boy."

She felt a tissue being pressed into her hand, and wiped her eyes, attempting to get hold of herself. After a few moments, she was finally able to look up from the desk in front of her. She saw not only were Remus and Poppy there, but Dumbledore, as well. Now, she had a target to vent on, one that, in her opinion, deserved all the blame for what had happened.

_'Albus!_ How _could_ you _not_ look in on him? What happend to all that protection he was supposed to have? With as much as he obviously dreaded going back there, with all we've told you about those people, what happened?" A moment later, she said, "I'm waiting for an answer, Albus. That was _not_ a rhetorical question."

Dumbledore's head hung down for a moment. When he looked up, she was only a bit surprised to see that the twinkle normally present in his blue eyes was gone. In that moment, he looked as if he felt every one of his very many years. He started to speak a couple of times, only to pull himself up short. Finally, he met her gaze.

"Molly, all I can say is that, on my word as a wizard, I had no idea the situation was so bad. Harry has mentioned to me once or twice how much he disliked going back there, but he would never give a reason. I knew the attitude the Dursleys had, and apparently still do, towards the magical world. It was my misguided belief that, in having him raised away from all of the notoriety he would have endured otherwise, he would be able to re-enter our world with a level head, as well as a measure of humility. Never, in my wildest dreams, would I have imagined that things would spiral the way they have. I swear to you now, he will never have to go back there. I would like you to know that the protection cast so long ago around that house will be removed, at the earliest opportunity." He looked at her now with an imploring expression. "If it's quite alright with you, I'd like to have the wards around the Burrow strengthened, so that he may live there permanently, when he's not here. They may never be quite what they are here, but I think we can make them quite strong enough to keep Voldemort away. Please discuss this with Arthur, and get back to me as soon as you are able. I think it would be better done quickly, though."

"No need to consult with Arthur on this, really. We've talked about it enough in the past. We've always enjoyed having Harry in our home, and hoped that, one day, he would consider it as his own. Do what you need to, Albus." Before leaving, she remembered something else. "Another thing, Albus. I want you to have a talk with Severus. I heard him express the opinion a number of times at Grimmauld Place, that Harry was some spoilt child, that his home life was something to be envied. Straighten him out, or _I will_!"

She got up now and started gathering herself to go back home. It would be interesting to see how her men would take the news they would recieve tonight, especially that concerning Ginny. She took her leave of them now, giving Remus a quick hug in thanks for alerting her to the situation.

Once back at the Burrow, she made a checklist of everything that would need to be done to get the place ready for Harry's arrival, not to mention that of Hermione in another week or so. Originally, she was going to set Percy's old room up for the bushy-haired girl whom she thought of almost as a second daughter. Now though, she thought it would be better to give it to Harry, so he could have some privacy. As this would be his new home, he would need a room of his own. Besides, she was amazed the poor boy ever got any sleep when he was here, between Ron's snoring and that awful shade of orange on his walls. It still mystified her, how her youngest son had managed to coax her into allowing him to use that color. By that evening, the room was finished, the walls painted to match the common room at Gryffindor Tower. She had even managed to transfigure Percy's old armchair into a comfortable couch like the ones that sat in front of the fireplace at the tower. She would have to talk to her husband about the possibility of putting a fireplace in there as well. She wasn't sure it would be possible, and it definitely wouldn't be on the floo network, but she wanted to make the room as homey as possible for Harry. This would make a lovely early birthday present for him. Of course, that wouldn't stop anybody, herself included, from buying him other gifts. If that unhygienic twit of a potions master were to accuse the poor boy of being spoiled, then they might as well make it so. That decided, she headed downstairs, to start dinner preparations. The Twins, Ron, and Arthur would need some fortification, for what she would tell them tonight.

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At Privet Lane, Petunia Dursley was in a dither. On one hand, _that boy_ was finally gone. That was a good thing, to her mind. All the wierd things that had always happened around him, as well as the other freaks who were part of that world, would no longer be any of her concern. Now, she could lavish her attention on those who deserved it, her husband and her precious DiddyDums. Of course, she would have to do her own cooking and cleaning now, but that was a small price to pay.

On the other hand, they had had to have a contractor in, to figure out how to get Vernon out of the wall. He had finally had to bring in an entire crew of workers, to tear down the wall that enclosed that side of the stairway. Apparently, whatever that man had done to the door had turned the whole wall into something like steel. They had broken three saw blades trying to break through, before just attacking it where it met the floor and the other walls. Who knew how _that_ was going to get fixed again? She sent Dudley to stay at Piers Polkiss' house for the night. Vernon had spent a good part of the evening in the tub upstairs, just soaking and trying to calm down. She was afraid he would have a heart attack, if he didn't. The only thing that seemed to help was reminding him that their nephew would never be darkening their doorstep again.

As she was finishing preparing dinner, a gold and red bird, trailing flames, flew through the kitchen window, pausing only long enough to deposit a dark red envelope on the table, before flying away again. As she stared at it, transfixed, it unfolded. In a deep, booming voice, it said only one thing.

_**"You were warned."**_

It then burst into flames, leaving a black scorch mark in the very center of the table. As it did, she felt an indefinable something pass over her. It was like a wave of dread, only intensified greatly. A chill ran through her blood, as she wondered at this, quite sure she didn't want to know what it meant.

The next morning, after Vernon left for work, things felt back to normal, for the most part. After tidying the kitchen things, she decided to walk over to Arabella Figg's house, to let her know that she would no longer have to worry about the burden that was their nephew. When she reached the house on Wisteria Walk, however, she was shocked to see that there was a realtor's sign out front. She looked in the windows, and the place was absolutely empty. It was as if nobody had ever lived there, neither the woman nor her cats. For some reason, that brought back to mind the letter she had received the night before. She wasn't sure why, but she felt distinctly uneasy.


	2. Chapter 2: Conversations and Apologies

**Disclaimer:** None of the wonderful characters created by JK Rowling belong to either of the collaborators on this story. The only thing we own is the plot of this particular tale. Even the plot ferrets don't belong to us. In fact, we're owned by a couple of cats. How pathetic is that? Urgh...

**Conversations and apologies:**

Molly cleaned up the breakfast dishes, after kissing her husband goodbye. Ron and the Twins were already gone to the the store for the day, for more stocking. Making sure the house was locked up, she walked over to the fireplace. She cast a critical eye over the small house, finally finding everything in order. She then took a pinch a powder from the pot on the mantle and threw into the fire. As Molly exited the fireplace in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, she looked over at the screens concealing Harry's bed and smiled. She turned now toward Madame Pomfrey's office. As she was about to knock, the door opened to a rather tired looking medi-witch.

Molly looked at Poppy and asked, "Are you alright? You don't look like you got so much a wink last night."

Madam Pomfrey shook her head and replied, "Harry had a rather bad night. I would have given him some dreamless sleep potion, so all three of us could get some sleep. Your daughter, however, did a wonderful job at quieting him. Some of the things I heard him say in his sleep, though. That poor youg man has been through so much. It still amazes me how well he's turned out."

They crossed the room to the partitioned area. Neither wanted to wake the young wizard, but they did want to make sure his healing was progressing as it should. Madame Pomfrey peeked around the screen to see him still sleeping. Stepping around the end, she held it open for Molly. They saw Ginny, fast asleep, curled up in a chair next to Harry's bed. Standing on the other side of the bed, Molly bent and kissed his forehead, whispering, "You're safe, now."'

As she straightened, Harry opened his eyes and smiled.

She looked down at him and said, "Sorry, dear. I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep."

Harry shook his head and replied, "You didn't wake me, my bladder did." He reached over to the bedside table for his glasses. As he put them on, he saw Ginny curled up in the chair near him.

Looking now at Madam Pomfrey, he asked, "Would it be ok for me to walk to the loo?" Frowning, he continued. "One thing thing I've learned in here is that I hate bedpans almost as much as I hate Voldemort.

The medi-witch stifled a laugh and said, "I don't think that would be a problem, Mr. Potter."

Both Molly and the medi-witch helped Harry out of bed. Leaning on them for support, he made his way across the wing and back without much trouble. Once he was safely back in bed, Madam Pomfrey took out her wand and ran it across his body. She checked him thoroughly, making sure that the leg was healing properly. Once that was completed, she exited. She returned a few minutes later with a tray of food and, placing it in front of him, said, "It's not much, but I don't want to see any of it left, when I return." The young wizard nodded, and they left him to to eat in peace.

As Harry ate the light meal, he thought back over the events up to this point, wondering what would happen now. He was roused from his musing by a beautiful young redhead smiling at him. _Where did that come from? She's Ron's little sister, by Merlin's beard! _Startled by this train of thought, the young wizard smiled back and said, "Morning, Gin, how are you? How did you sleep?" He remembered how some of his nightmares had ended up waking his mates in the dorm last year. "I hope I didn't keep you up all night."

She just said, "I'm fine and I slept just fine. As far as keeping me awake," She gave him a stern look. "Don't you worry about that. I was happy to help you get some rest."

Ginny then walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand in hers, asking, "Harry how long has this been going on? Why didn't you tell someone?"

Harry frowned and said, "I'm sorry Gin, but I'm not really up to talking about it right now."

Ginny sat there fighting back tears of rage for what had happened to him, and worry for the emerald-eyed young wizard, as it threatened to overwhelm her. She bent to give him a hug and said, "Just remember, when you _are_ ready, I'm here."

Harry nodded, his face clearing a bit, as he said, "Thank you, Ginny. I appreciate that. When I _can_ talk about it, I'll let you know."

She straightened back up now, taking hold of his hand. She looked him in the eyes as she said, "I'll hold you to that, Mr Potter, just see if I don't." Her face brightened then with a mischievous look. She had realized something. "You haven't gotten any of the letters I've sent you since term ended, have you?" He shook his head, and her face lit up. "Then you don't know what's been going on. Time to bring you up to date." She giggled now. "The second day we were home, Ron got a letter from Hermione. He ran straight up to his room with it, and spent the next three hours reading it. Now, I know for a fact, that not even Hermione would write something that would take my thick git of a brother that long to read. I looked in his door, and he was laying back on his bed, reading it over and over. I swear, the Twins could have set off a roomful of fireworks under his bed, and he wouldn't have noticed. He was that wrapped up in that letter. That's happened every time he got a letter from her, which has been every two days. The past few summers, I reckon he got one a week or so. On the days he wasn't _getting_ letters, he was _writing_ them. I've never seen a mound of balled-up parchment like that in my life. He was writing and re-writing for hours." She shook her head ruefully. "Hopefully, the goofy git will actually tell her how he feels about her, and soon. I don't know if I can take it much longer."

Harry was dumbfounded. "Erm, what do you mean, 'how he feels'?"

The young witch rolled her eyes at him. "Honestly, Harry. You're almost as thick as he is. _Surely_ you know they're mad for each other? The trick is getting the two of them to admit it to each other."

He shook his head wonderingly, thinking back over the past few years, the last two especially. Things started falling into place, like tunblers in a lock. What stuck out most in his mind was the Yule Ball in fourth year. Ron had been furious, when he had discovered Mione had attended the Ball with Viktor Krum. The whole of fifth year, just the mere mention of _Vicky_, as his best friend had referred to the Bulgarian quidditch star, had been enough to incite some awe-inspiring rows between Ron and Hermione. Of course. Jealousy would be the _only_ explanation that would fit. Harry started to chuckle, as he realized what had really been going on the whole time. Soon enough, the chuckles turned into full-blown laughter. Ginny laughed along with him, as she saw the new knowledge dawning in his eyes. She had worried about what his reaction would be. It was good to see this, as it was the happiest she had ever seen him.

The two of them happily spent the rest of the afternoon plotting ways to make Ron and Hermione admit what they felt for each other, each plan more devious than the last. Madame Pomfrey must have been busy, as both lunch and the evening meal were served by Dobby. The effusive little house-elf was more than happy to see them both. Harry was a bit conflicted upon seeing Dobby. While he was genuinely fond of the the elf, Dobby's over-enthusiasm every time he saw the young wizard did tend to grate on the nerves a bit. It was amusing, though a bit embarassing, to hear the house-elf refer to Ginny as 'Harry Potter's Weezy.' She didn't seem to mind, though she did raise a querying eyebrow at him upon hearing it. Harry assured her he'd explain it later. He breathed a small sigh of relief when Dobby took the dishes back to the kitchen after the evening meal.

Ginny stood and stretched and said she had to go find Madame Pomfrey, to ask her about something. That was when Harry truly noticed how much she had grown over the past couple years. _Wow. When did she get curves? Stop, stop, stop! Can't do that!_ He mused to himself that, somehow, when he was busy being blind to her and pining idiotically over Cho Chang, Ginny had started developing into a very attractive young woman. Hermione had told him last year that Ginny had given up on him. _No chance for you then, you great git. She finally decided to find somebody worthy of her_ That brought to mind the thing that had been hiding in the back of his mind all day. He remembered that she had another boyfriend now. _Wraps it up in a ball, that does. She's already got somebody else, so of course you'd fall for her. Idiot _By now, he was so busy telling the snide little voice inside his head to shut up, that he didn't even argue with the fact that he was falling for her. Her humor, liveliness, and spunk drew him in. She was also rapidly becoming a very good friend. Just as he was starting to wonder what she'd had to go ask Pomfrey about, she came back over and dropped into the very comfortable chair next to his bed.

Once she was seated, he asked, "So how are you and Dean getting on, then?"

She wore a look of confusion. "Dean? Dean who?"

Now it was his turn to be confused. "Erm, Dean Thomas. Your boyfriend, right?"

"Whatever gave you _that_ idea?"

"On the train, after you told us about dumping Michael Corner, you said you were going out with Dean."

Her eyes lit up now, and she started laughing. "I only said that to wind Ron up. He'd been such a prat about Michael all year, and even if he was right about him, I still wanted to make sure he had a reminder that I'll date whoever I want. No matter what _ickle Ronniekins_ thought. Besides, I already know all about Dean's reputation with the girls."

Harry tried not to feel too much elation about this revelation, no matter how relieved he may have felt about it. "Well yeah, I'd thought about mentioning something about that, but it would've just wound Ron up even more. Then again, that's just what you were looking for at the time, wasn't it?" At this, she just nodded, giggling. "Have you let him off the hook yet then, or does your brother still think the Stud of Gryffindor Tower is going to have his way with his little sister, when school starts back up?"

The redhead started laughing even harder now. "I told him about it three days ago. I don't know which was funnier. Watching him stew and picture all the possibilities his mind came up with, or the way relief fought with anger at being hoodwinked. I swear, by the end of the first week, he had stewed so much I thought he'd fall apart at a touch. He really _was_ on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Finally, Hermione wrote and told me I had to tell him the truth. She'd gotten a seven page letter from him, ranting about what he was going to do to Dean when he saw him on the train. Amazing really, that poor little Pig was able to carry a letter that size."

Once they both finally stopped laughing long enough to breathe, she finished catching him up on all the rest of the happenings around the house. Fred and George were doing well with the shop, already. Most of the business seemed to be by Owl Order, as everybody was very nervous these days, now that the Ministry had finally acknowledged Voldemort's return. Very few people were out and about these days, worried about their own safety and that of their families. Ironically, now that he was recognized for the threat he truly was, alive and well, the Dark Lord seemed to sink back into the ground. The consensus seemed to be that he was marshalling his forces, biding his time. There had been reports of him in some pretty strange places over the past few weeks.

Harry was starting to get curious as to her sources for all of this, as he was quite certain that Molly Weasley wouldn't have allowed her two youngest children to join in Order meetings. "So, how do you know all of this?"

They were both surprised to hear a voice from the other side of the privacy screen. "I admit to having some small curiosity about that myself." Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall came around to stand at the end of Harry's bed.

Ginny looked at the two teachers and replied, "Well, anyone who's been down Diagon Alley the past few weeks can see how nervous everybody is. Fred told me about the Owl Order stuff, and I also get the Quibbler, as well as the Daily Prophet. There's a lot of good stuff in there, if you know what to ignore."

The headmaster nodded. Both professors had a look of respect for Ginny's intelligence at sussing all that out, from newspaper and tabloid articles, and simple observations. Dumbledore chuckled, and said, "It's taken three weeks and reports from most of the members of the Order, to come to a conclusion remarkably like you have arrived at, Miss Weasley. Of course, we do have a bit more in the way of specifics, but essentially the same." He looked at McGonagall with his customary twinkle. "Perhaps we should simply subscribe to the tabloids, and let some of the more useful members get on with more active matters."

The Transfigurations professor rolled her eyes and answered, "If only it were that easy, Headmaster. I think not, though."

Dumbledore sighed and said, "You're right, as usual, Minerva." He then turned to the two students sitting before him. "However, we didn't stop by to discuss intelligence gathering techniques. Harry, I wanted to apologize to you. I never knew what was going on there. As Miss Weasley so ably pointed out to me yesterday, I have been quite derelict in my duties in regards to your safety. I concentrated solely on external threats, giving nary a thought to anything you may have faced from within. That seems to be a failing of mine." He trailed off, the twinkle in his eyes quite dulled at this point.

Harry was completely disconcerted by this admission on Dumbledore's part. He still wasn't sure he had forgiven the headmaster for concealing the prophecy from him all this time, but at least had an understanding why he had thought it a necessary step. He didn't trust himself to look at the old man, and looked instead at Ginny. His mind had registered that she had apparently told off the man that most assumed was the most powerful wizard in the world, the only one Voldemort himself feared. Harry's respect for her grew, and he made a resolution to himself to never get her angry. He'd heard reports of her Bat-Bogey hex, after Malfoy had been hit with it. He looked over at her, and she looked down, a tinge of pink spreading over her cheeks. Harry took her hand and gave it a little squeeze. She looked up at him then, and he gave her a smile. She smiled back, the blush fading now, and after a moment he turned back to look at the professors.

"What happens after I get out of here? Are you going to do a memory charm on them and send me back?" He was suddenly sure he knew what the answer would be, if not Privet Drive. He was absolutely certain he would have to go to Grimmauld Place. That would be too much, with all of the memories of Sirius that infused the house. He knew that if he had to spend the rest of the summer there, he would be insane from grief inside of a week. Just the thought of dealing with the portrait of Mrs Black, not to mention Kreacher, was enough to almost drive him round the bend. That brought forth the next question. "What about Kreacher?" The traitorous house-elf had taken too much a part in the demise of Harry's godfather. "What's happened to _him_?" If ever there was a house-elf that deserved to punish himself, it was that one, though as far as Harry was concerned, it would never be enough.

"Alas, Kreacher was found upon my return to headquarters, dead. Apparently, when Sirius fell through the veil, the portrait of his mother fell from the wall and burst into flames. With the loss of the last direct heir to the house, namely Mrs Black, or her portrait at any rate, Kreacher had no reason to continue, and let slip the bonds of life. I believe you would have a hard time recognizing the house right now. It has been much improved in the past few weeks."

Harry hadn't realized he was still holding Ginny's hand, until he felt her squeeze his. He turned to look at her, and she gave him such a look of support that it left him feeling as if he'd been stunned. He smiled back at her in thanks. The next words he heard though, were enough to make him whip his head around in shock.

"No, Harry. I have already assured Molly that you will not be going there again. Once you have healed sufficiently to leave here, you will go to the Burrow. If you agree, they would like you to permanently call their home yours."

The grin on Harry's face almost threatened to split his skull in half. "Professor, you have no _idea_ how much I agree with that! That's brilliant! As far as I'm concerned, they're already my family." His face fell after a moment. "But, won't that place them in even more danger? I don't want..."

The headmaster raised his hand to forestall Harry's protests. "Already covered, my boy. For one thing, they would be at risk with or without you. Arthur's stance on the blood issue, full, half, or muggle-born, is well known. For that reason alone, he and his family would be a target for Tom, as well as any who associate with them. Also, the wards around the Burrow are being strengthened as we speak. By the time you are well enough to leave here, the whole area surrounding the house will be roughly the third best protected place in all of the British Isles. At the risk of sounding conceited, Azkaban will be slightly easier to access.

"Ironically enough, what with Arthur's stand on blood, the Weasley bloodline, and the Burrow, go back in wizarding history almost as far as the Potter name. Past the Founders of our school, if I'm not mistaken. Minerva would be more of an authority on this." He turned to her, obviously giving her the floor.

McGonagall looked like she might dispute this, but conceded after a moment. "Yes, well, I did a treatise on the older bloodlines for History of Magic, at university, when I was studying to become a teacher. I hardly think that makes me the ultimate authority in these matters, but I do have some knowledge of your two families. The headmaster is correct in saying that both go back to the days of Merlin. With as haphazard and chaotic as record keeping was in those times, not much can be easily traced farther back. Ginny, you may be interested to know that the land the Burrow inhabits was originally granted to your many times grandfather, Alric Weasley, by Uther Pendragon, father to King Arthur. History does not record what service was rendered to earn this boon, but it must have been considerable. Since that time, magic has soaked into the land around what is now your home, permeating everything there. That's why the wards around the Burrow will be almost as effective as those here."

Dumbledore's twinkle was back in full force now. "So you see, Harry, why I am confident that your presence there will not endanger the Weasley family, any more than they would already be."

Though Harry wasn't as sure as he'd have liked to be, he gave in. He was fairly sure that, with all the preparations, there was no way that Molly would hear of anything else. There was also the fact that, as worried as he was about endangering the Weasleys, it was an infinitely better option than any other would be.

"Thanks, professor. I really am looking forward to seeing the Burrow again. I haven't gotten to spend any time there since before my fourth year. I don't know if I could face Grimmauld Place, just yet. There's...just too many...memories there..." He trailed off now, obviously working hard to contain the grief they knew he felt. His head dropped, as he didn't think he would be able to look into anyone's eyes right now. He felt sure that all he would see on any of the faces around him was pity. That was something he just didn't think he could take right now, especially as he was still blaming himself for his godfather's death.

Ginny gave his hand a squeeze, trying to let him know that she was there for him. Over the past year or so, she had almost convinced herself that she was over Harry. She had dated Michael Corner, and while that was never anything really serious, it had helped to put a few things in perspective. She'd had fun with Michael, at least until that last game of the season. They had kissed once or twice, and while the kisses weren't exactly chaste, they were nothing to speak of, either. They especially weren't anything like Lavender and Parvati had gossiped about, with fireworks and all that. She was starting to realize that the Ravenclaw boy had been nothing more than a diversion, something to take her mind off of Harry. Her heart belonged to the teenage wizard next to her, but she had no idea if he would ever claim it. Watching him, his head bowed, she moved from her chair to the edge of his bed, her hand on his back, moving in small circles.

After a few moments of this, he looked up at her, grateful for the comfort. Somehow, he knew now that he wouldn't see the pity in her face that he'd dreaded. All he saw there was sympathy, underscored with support. He gave her a small smile of thanks, and she nodded back, smiling. She gave his hand another quick squeeze. Now, he looked over to where the two professors sat. The looks on their faces were sympathetic as well.

Dumbledore spoke up now. "Harry, I will drop by sometime tomorrow, so we can talk about arrangements for getting you to the Burrow. Do try to get some rest." He stood now, patting his pupil's free hand for a moment. Ginny still had the other firmly in her grasp.

McGonagall walked up now to take her leave. "Indeed, Mr Potter. I'll want my Seeker well rested, by the time Quidditch starts back up. Don't think you'll get out of it this season just because that toad of a woman thought she could make a ban stick. Life-time ban indeed!" she huffed, as she reached for his hand. He disengaged it from Ginny's, to clasp McGonagall's. She looked down as she took his hand and her eyes went wide. A small gasp came from her throat, as she saw the words still showing faintly on his hand, _"I must not tell lies"._ "Albus!" The headmaster saw the look on her face and came back to see what had so concerned her. "Albus, she used a Bloodquill. Those were outlawed decades ago." Looking directly at Harry, she asked, "Did she have you use that thing _every_ time you had detention with her?" At his nod, the blood drained from her face, and Dumbledore had to steady her. "Why did you never say anything?"

"Because I didn't think there was anything you could do about it. If you'd confronted her about it, she'd have had that great idiot Fudge write another decree, this time firing you. Teachers who gave a damn about what was going on around here were getting rather thin on the ground, given the fact that she had anybody she didn't like on bloody probation. What good would it have gotten for you to get yourself canned?"

"Why didn't you tell the Headmaster, then?"

Harry laughed, the sound of it not a little bitter. "I might have, if he'd been talking to me." Seeing the twinkle dim again in Dumbledore's eyes, he relented a bit. "I guess I understand the reason behind it now, but it sure didn't make things any easier last term."

The headmaster looked steadily at the young wizard. "Harry, the only defense I have at this point is that I wanted to allow you to keep some small aspect of your innocence, even if only for a while longer. I know that doesn't excuse it, but I hope it does explain it a bit. Please accept my apologies, for keeping you in the dark as I did."

"I'll accept that apology on one condition, professor. Please accept mine, for what I did to your office at the end of term." Harry remembered the way he had trashed Dumbledore's office, after the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries. "I'd like to replace anything that wasn't salvageable."

The headmaster waved away the offer. "My boy, as much as I appreciate the offer, I daresay I have entirely too many things in my office, so don't worry about replacing them. Besides," The twinkle was back now, almost full force. "That just gave me an excuse to find some wonderful new things. Most of these are a bit more durable than the last, so I have no worries about them." Dropping a wink in Harry's direction, he turned and left the infirmary.

Professor McGonagall made as if to leave as well, but turned back a moment. "Harry, as noble as your intentions may have been, and as frustrating as the past year assuredly was for you, please remember that all of us are here to take care of you pupils. Please give us a chance to do so, at least once in a while." Harry could have sworn that the professor's expression held a touch of pride in him as she turned to follow the headmaster.

The young wizard leaned back against the headboard of his bed, his eyes closed, and released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Sometime during the confrontation with his teachers, Ginny had moved back to the chair beside his bed. When she had, she'd also pulled the chair closer to the head, to make it easier to talk. When he opened his eyes, it was to see her chocolate brown ones looking back at him, with an expression of concern.

All she said was, "Alright then, Harry?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's just a lot to take in all at once. I mean, never having to go back to the Dursley's is amazing, and the thought of living at the Burrow is brilliant!" His face lit up even brighter at the other realization he'd just had. "I can't believe I'll be able to _fly_ again. Merlin, but it'll be great to have my Firebolt back! It's the only thing I have from Sirius." Emerald eyes dimmed now, as this reminder of his godfather brought home to him, yet again, the fact that Sirius was gone. Tears welled from his eyes of their own accord, running down his cheeks. He turned away from Ginny, to keep her from seeing.

A knot came up in the young witch's chest, as she watched him. It killed her to see him like this. He looked like he truly felt alone at this moment. She moved back beside him now, her arms wrapping around him, as she held him tight. "Harry, I miss him, too. He was a good man. He was funny, clever, and came up with the best pranks. He loved you, too. I don't know if he ever told you, but he told me one night. He was so scared for you, and proud of you at the same time. He told me that he thought, no, he _knew, _your dad and mum would be proud of the man you're becoming." Her tears flowed now, as she did her own mourning for Sirius Black.

They sat there, arms around each other for a while longer, just giving each other comfort. Once they were both cried out for the time being, they slowly moved away from each other, but not much. They each sat wrapped in their memories a little longer, until Ginny quietly cleared her throat.

She looked shyly up at him.

"Harry, I don't think I ever thanked you, for saving my life, down in the Chamber. There just isn't a way to thank you enough for that." She leaned over now, and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."

He colored a bit at this, his cheeks tinged with pink. "I couldn't leave you down there, Ginny. When I heard that there was somebody down there, I had to go. When Ron and I heard McGonagall say that it was you, it was like all doubt was erased. I knew I had to get down there, and get you away from whoever was doing all that. When I saw you laying on the floor of the Chamber, it was like the bottom had dropped from the world. I couldn't let you die. I had no idea how I was going to do it, just that I had to." He shrugged, as something occured to him. "Maybe it was what Hermione said last year. The whole 'saving people thing'."

"Do me a favor, would you Harry?" At his quizzical look and nod, she continued. "Any time you want to save my sorry little arse, you just go right ahead, okay?"

Harry laughed a bit at this, and said, "Just for you, Gin." _And a cute little bum it is, too_ He couldn't believe he was thinking these things. Though, he had to admit that his treacherous inner voice had a definite point.

"Well, that's alright, then. Now, budge over a bit. What's this about Dumbledore's office?"

Harry cringed a bit at the memory. "Dumbledore gave me a portkey to bring me to his office, after the balls-up at the Ministry. When he got back here, after seeing to everybody, he, erm, told me something." He debated with himself over telling her the prophecy. He would, at some point, probably when Ron and Hermione were present, too. "Something I was, well, quite pissed about, to tell the truth. I blew up at him." Almost to himself, he said quietly, "I just couldn't believe that he would keep something like that from me. Well, I kind of let my temper get the best of me."

"You didn't."

"Yeah, I did. I completely trashed his office. Stop giggling, you. It's not that funny."

Unable to hold her laughter in, she finally burst out. "Yes, it is!"

Seeing her laughter, he started chuckling himself. It was worth her laughing at him, as long as he got to hear it. He suddenly realized that the best moments he'd had today were when he had been able to make her laugh. It was dawning on him now, how thick he'd been. He was sitting there watching her, when she stopped laughing. She still had a smile on her face, as she saw him looking at her. A small blush slowly crept over her cheeks.

"What is it, Harry?"

He looked down at his hands for a moment, not sure how to say what he wanted to. Finally, he looked back at her, taking in her deep brown eyes, the nimbus of beautiful red hair surrounding her face, her delicate features.

With a sad smile, he said, "I've really been an idiot, haven't I? Now that you're over me, I finally see what's been in front of me this whole time. You've done nothing but offer me help, support, and friendship. Now, I've lost my chance. I hope that, the next time you fall for someone, he's smart enough to see it for the treasure it is." He looked back down at his hands now, unsure of what he would see in her face.

Ginny was stunned. Did this mean what she thought, hoped, it meant? Unable to speak for a moment, she sat looking at him. Finally, berating herself into gathering her Gryffindor courage, she put her hand under his chin, bringing his gaze back to hers. She looked into those brilliant green eyes. Hoping that what she thought she saw there was real, she spoke.

"Harry, I never said that I was over you. What I said was that I'd given up. When I saw you and Cho, I thought that there was no chance for me. I thought that, as long as you were happy, that was good enough. When I saw what she had done to you, it broke my heart. Personally, I think she and Michael deserve each other." She paused, and said what she really wanted to. "If you really think you want to go out with me, you'll always have a chance. Maybe you were a bit of an idiot, but it might've helped if I wasn't always sticking my elbow in the butter dish around you, not to mention sending you singing trolls."

"Actually, I thought that the singing get-well card my third year was brilliant. The voice was a bit off, but the card was brilliant."

Ginny went beet red at this. "Did you have to remind me of that?" She took a swing at his arm, and he caught her hand.

He kissed her fingers and asked, "Will you be my girlfriend, Ginny?"

She wrapped her arms around him and replied, "For as long as you'll have me."

They came together now, their lips touching, tentatively at first. Gradually, they became more bold, the kiss intensifying. Both mouths seemed to open at the same time, and their tongues touched, moving against each other. After a time, whether it was a few minutes or a lifetime neither was sure, they drew apart, her forehead resting against his.

The only thing Harry could say was, "Wow."

Ginny replied with "Yeah." Then she slapped him on the arm. "So what made you wait so long, you prat?" She snuggled in against him, as he lay back against his pillow.

He was running his hand through her hair, amazed at how soft it was. "You know, Ron is going to go spare, when he finds out." He let out a small groan. "I don't even want to _think_ what the rest of your brothers are going to do to me."

"Are you kidding? Don't you remember, on the train, when I told him I'd chosen Dean? Didn't you see the look he gave you before I said that?"

"Erm, Gin, I was a bit pre-occupied at the time. Remember, I was on my way back to the Dursley's. The only place I would have wanted less to be going to was Voldemort's lair. You'll excuse me if I missed the occasional subtlety."

That earned a full blown laugh from her. _"Ron? Subtle?_ Are we talking about the same guy? Red hair, taller than you, in your year, who hasn't yet managed to twig that Hermione's wanted him since forever? _That _Ron?" Once she'd finally quit laughing, she looked back up at him, still stifling the occasional giggle. "He's been wanting us to get together for a year and a half now."

"And the rest of them?"

"I really don't think they'll give you a bad time. The only ones you'll have to watch will be Fred and George. They'll prank you once or twice, you'll prank them back, and that'll be that. They wouldn't hurt their financial backer. They may be nuts, but they're not _completely_ stupid. Charlie and Bill will welcome you, and Percy...Percy can bugger off, as far as I'm concerned. Ron told me about that letter Prissy Percy sent him. All I can say is that he'd better count himself lucky he didn't step between me and Ron when we were talking about it." Her smile was a little scary at this point. "What happened on the train to Malfoy and the dungbrain twins would have been merciful in comparison."

"Remind me to never get you mad at me."

Ginny moved up so that her head was resting on his chest. "Just give me a kiss, and you won't have to worry about it." He couldn't resist an offer like that, so he did as she requested. A few minutes later, he lay back again.

A moment later, tiredness overtook him, and he drifted off into sleep. It was the first night in a long time he slept completely without nightmares.


	3. Chapter 3: Birthdays and Nightmares

**Disclaimer:** No creatures, magical or otherwise, were harmed during the writing of this chapter. Though the cats have been looking a bit emotionally scarred at times.

**Birthdays and Nightmares**

Harry had been out of the hospital wing at Hogwarts for five days now, the day before his sixteenth birthday. Physically, he was as completely healed as modern magical healing could get him, though he was still much too thin, especially in the eyes of two red-headed women. Between Molly and Ginevra Weasley, he was convinced they were going to try to pack enough weight onto his frame to rival his cousin Dudley. The physical signs of the abuse he'd endured were almost gone now, bones knitted, cuts and abrasions healed, and bruises faded to near invisibility.

His emotional health was another story, however. With the abuse his uncle Vernon had heaped on him after his return from school, both physical and mental, he hadn't had a chance to truly grieve the death of his godfather, Sirius Black. It seemed that, with every corner turned, there was another reminder. Whether it was a prank pulled by the Twins that Sirius would have loved, a chance to tease Ron about his obvious affection for Hermione, or the new closeness between Harry and Ginny, there was always something that made him think of his godfather.

At the moment, the raven-haired young wizard was deeply asleep, in the throes of a nightmare. For once, it wasn't anything inspired by Voldemort, but it was bad, nonetheless. In his dream, his uncle Vernon towered over him, fists swinging down, again and again, in an attempt to beat the 'abnormalities' out of him. Harry had ended up with a broken jaw that time, as well as at least three snapped ribs. They had taken the nine year old to an emergency room, telling the medical personnel that he had been hit by a runaway lorry. Upon being brought home, he had been thrown back into the cupboard under the stairs, to heal on his own.

The scene switched to a much different perspective, a much smaller Harry, a much larger Vernon. This was a scene he remembered all too well. It was shortly after his seventh birthday. Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley had gone on an outing to a local driving range, as they were trying to get Dudley interested in golf, as it was supposed to be a sport for 'Gentlemen'. Harry swore he could almost hear the capital letters in the way Vernon said the word. They had been forced to bring 'the boy' along, as Mrs Figg, his usual babysitter, was away visiting a sister or some such. He had been relieved not to go to her house, as it always smelled of overcooked cabbage and her many cats. Watching his uncle drive a ball down-range, he had been struck by the stray thought of how funny it would be to see the ball curve back like a boomerang, and knock his obnoxious cousin in the head. As he was thinking this, it happened. The little white missile flew out past the two-hundred yard marker, then curved back on a paraboloic trajectory, finally coming back to hit his elaphantine cousin on the temple. With a strangled noise, his cousin went down as if poleaxed. Petunia went straight to her fallen son, who was already recovering what limitedwits he posessed, smothering him in kisses. Vernon, on the other hand, fell back to his usual response. His face going purple, he took a couple quick steps over to Harry and backhanded him hard, knocking him down. They had immediately bundled both boys back into the car, and sped back to Privet Drive. Once they had returned, the beating Harry had received had been unusually severe. The dark-haired boy had ended up with a broken leg, two black eyes, and more bruises than could be counted. He also had a cut across one shoulder that had been the result of being thrown back into his cupboard, hard. The cut later became infected, festering until Petunia had given him some old penicillin she had found in the back of the medicine cabinet. She didn't want to take the chance that she would have to take him to the emergency room, thus having to explain how his condition had come about. By the time it finally healed, there was a scar there that almost rivalled the one on his forehead. This scar was the reason he almost never took his shirt off around other people, if he could help it. He just didn't want to answer any questions this could bring.

The worst part about reliving these memories was that, off to the side, was the figure of his godfather. In Harry's nightmares, Sirius stood propped against the wall, cheering Vernon on. He offered suggestions on where to hit the youth, laughing maniacally like the wanted posters that had been Harry's first introduction to him.

As the dream started, Harry had been tossing and turning, but as it progressed, he curled into a ball on the bed, as if to protect himself. He didn't hear the footsteps of the members of the Weasley family, as they rushed to try to help him. Before long, Arthur and Molly were outside his door, along with Ron and Ginny. The three oldest there were at a loss as to how to soothe him.

The youngest, though, seemed to know just what to do. Before anyone could stop her, she shot inside the room and sat down next to him. She laid a hand gently on his forehead, while murmuring soothing words. "Shhh...you're safe now. You're away from those horrible people. They can't hurt you." She took him in her arms as he started to relax. She held him, rocking as he trembled. In a quietly clear, beautiful voice, she sang to him.

_Hush, little baby, don't say a word._

_Momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird._

_If the mockingbird won't sing,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a diamond ring ._

_If the diamond ring turns into brass,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a looking glass._

_If the looking glass gets broke,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a billy goat._

_If the billy goat runs away,_

_Momma's gonna buy you another today._

Gradually, as she sang to him, he finally relaxed. He slowlyunfolded, andhis arms went around her, as a small smile came up on his face. Ginny laid down next to her boyfriend, still mumuring soft words of encouragement. She looked back at her family with an expression of entreaty, and Molly understood. She nodded back at her daughter, and quietly ushered her husband and son back to their beds. There would be time enough to discuss this tomorrow.

Inside, Molly was enraged. If she ever got her hands on Vernon Dursley, well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty. All she knew was what she had heard Harry yelling in his sleep. He had yelled out to his uncle to please stop, that he would be good, that he would try to be less of a freak. Molly seethed. Freak, indeed! As if anybody with any sense would consider that beautiful boy a freak. The more she learned about his 'family', the more she marvelled at how good he had turned out. How anyone could be as thoughtful, self-sacrificing, and noble as this emerald-eyed young man had, with the upbringing he'd had, was simply incredible. As she settled back under her covers, she reflected that she had finally found somebody she would be willing to turn her twin sons loose on. It could be very interesting indeed to see what they might come up with. With this happy thought, she drifted off to sleep, perchance to dream.

The next morning, Harry woke to see beautiful red hair surrounding an elfin face, with just a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Startled as he was to see her there beside him, he wasn't about to argue. He just lay there a few minutes, drinking in the sight of her. Slightly built she may have been, but to him, Ginny was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He was entranced by the sight of her, from her slightly round cheeks, to her pert nose, to her wonderfully muscled legs, and her round little bum. In short, he had it bad, and he knew it. His salvation lay in the fact that the object of his affections returned his feelings tenfold. He was amazed at that fact, that she would want him, Harry. He rather thought that she could have just about any boy in Hogwarts, but only wanted him. She'd confessed to him the day before that the fling she'd had with Michael Corner had just been something to pass the time until he, Harry, had woken up to what she offered him. As he contemplated this, feeling incredibly lucky, her eyelids fluttered open.

Her eyes opened slowly, drinking in the sight of him laying in front of her. She felt like she was still dreaming, as her chocolate brown eyes locked with his emerald ones. She lay there, taking in the love that was evident there, before it finally sank in where she was. Her eyes went round, and she rolled onto her back, slapping both hands over her face.

"Oh, Merlin! I'm in _your_ room, _your bed,_ and wearing nightclothes." A little moan escaped her throat.

"Rather a nice way to wake up, I think." Harry gave her a little smirk.

She smacked him on the arm. "You prat. Do you have any idea how much teasing we'll get, especially once the Twins hear about it?"

"Who's going to tell?"

"Ron. He may be okay with us dating, but sleeping together?" Head still in her hands, she moaned again. "Argh!"

Harry considered this a moment, then a mischievous smile came over his face. "Come to think of it, we don't have to worry about it."

She spread her fingers, looking at him incredulously. "How do you figure?"

"Hermione's coming today, right? For my party, yeah?"

"Uh-huh. So how is this..." Really waking up now, the wheels in her head started to turn. "A distraction." Looking back at her boyfriend, she smiled now.

"Exactly. I have a plan." As he explained it to the cute redhead, they both started laughing.

"You know, Mr Potter, you have a devious mind. Just one of the many things I love about you."

Lifting an eyebrow at her, he replied. "One of these days, I'll have to ask you to list all those things, so I know what I'm doing right, and can keep doing them."

Leaning in to give him a quick kiss, Ginny said, "Maybe some day. For now, I have to go change." She kissed him and got up to get ready for the day.

A little while later, Harry came down to sit at the table. Molly looked over when she heard him settle into the chair, obvious concern showing in her face.

"Good morning, Harry dear. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Not bad, actually. Erm, I hope I didn't keep everybody up with..." He trailed off after a moment.

"Not to worry, dear. It's not the first time this house has been woken in the middle of the night. Though usually, it's the Twins behind it." She shook her head, tutting a bit at the thought of all the pranks they had pulled.

"Oh, okay. I just, well, know that my nightmares have a tendency to be a bit loud. At school, I keep wanting to put a silencing charm around my bed, but Ron won't let me."

"Too bloody right I won't, mate." The rejoinder came from behind him, as Ron made his way to the table for breakfast. "I know what those nightmares do to you, when they go on too long."

The youngest Weasley came to the table then, taking a seat next to her boyfriend. Harry squeezed her hand under the table. Once he had her attention, he gave a subtle nod in Ron's direction. Her eyes flickered to her brother, and she gave an almost imperceptible nod as she squeezed his hand back, before releasing it. Ron, concentrating on the pile of blueberry pancakes in front of him, didn't notice the subtle byplay.

Molly, as the mother of seven very active children, missed very little. She saw the interaction between her daughter and the dark-haired boy she'd thought of as a son from the first time she'd met him. The only thing she could think was that this could prove to be an interesting day, indeed. Ron was definitely protective towards his sister, as all the brothers were, but he was at least as circumspect in what he saw as his duty to his best friend.

In addition to this apparent conflict, there was the fact that, having waited so long and patiently to get her man, there was no way Ginny was about to let her brothers, or anyone else for that matter, get between her and Harry.

After breakfast, the three of them headed outside for quidditch practice. It was decided to have Ron guard the makeshift hoop at the far end of the pitch, while Harry helped Ginny practice for the chaser position she was to try out for in the upcoming season. They passed the melon they were using as a quaffle back and forth at lightning speeds, while advancing on the hoop. Ron looked fairly confident when Harry was the one flying towards him, for, though his skills as seeker weren't in dispute, his aim with this method of scoring wasn't quite as accurate. On the other hand, the youngest Weasley male was quite glad he wouldn't have to face off against his sister at school. Her accuracy at getting around him and scoring was downright wicked. She managed to score just enough goals off of him to keep him on his guard, while not quite enough to make him doubt his own skills. After an hour or so of this, Harry called a halt to this, as he felt the need to practice himself. He made a quick trip to the orchard that stood to one side of the pond, and gathered a double handful of green apples. They weren't quite ripe enough for eating yet, but would serve admirably as substitute snitches.

He gave Ron and Ginny each a handful of them, saying, "Alright. I want you two to toss these, one at a time, as hard as you can. I'll try to catch them before they hit the ground." He looked around a moment, considering. "Each of you take an end of the pitch, and let me get a little height before you start."

The two youngest Weasleys nodded, and headed to opposite ends of the pitch, Ginny taking the end nearer the house, her brother at the far end. Once in position, they looked up, waiting for the signal from the raven-haired seeker. Up and up he spiraled, until he was a hundred feet or more in the air. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Oi! Ron! You start!"

Nodding, he drew his arm back and let loose. It was a good throw, and the apple soared a good seventy feet, before describing a downward arc to the grass. Just inches before it would have hit the ground, a dark blur sped by, before swooping back into the sky. Harry slowed a bit as ascended again, holding up the makeshift snitch. Dropping it, he flew back into the sky for the next round. This time, Ginny put a spin on it as she threw it. It tumbled as it fell, and Harry almost missed it as he dove. Somehow, he managed to snag it before it hit the ground, and sped off again. The three of the continued in this fashion until all the apples had been thrown. Afterwards, they stayed in the air, playing a game of tag on their brooms. Ginny was 'It' the longest, riding the oldest, and slowest, broom. When they heard Molly yelling for them to come in for lunch, they put their brooms away in the shed and headed towards the house.

Harry and Ginny walked, hand in hand, towards the house, aware of the looks they were getting from her brother. Harry broke the silence by asking, "So Ron, when are you going to tell Hermione how you feel about her?"

That stopped him in his tracks. The other two stopped as well, watching with amused expressions, as he sputtered. "Wha-huh?" His glance flicked back and forth between the two. Finally, he managed to ask, "What are you talking about?" He had his arms folded across his chest, and a defiant expression on his face, though something else managed to look through. It was a look that said, "Oh, bloody hell! How'd they guess it?"

Almost in unison, they rolled their eyes and said, "Oh, please."

He looked back at the pair and shuddered. "Alright then. That was scary. Almost like the Twins."

Harry looked at his best friend and said, "No changing the subject. It's bloody obvious that you're head over heels for her, mate. There's no way you two would fight the way you do, otherwise."

"Don't be ridiculous. Me? Like Hermione? _That_ way? No. I don't. I can't..." He sat down abruptly, his head in his hands. "Even if I did, she could never like me back. Everything I do or say manages to upset her. You've seen the rows we get into. Besides, she's got _Vicky._" The name was said almost venomously.

Ginny responded to this. "Ron, now you're being the ridiculous one. I know for a fact that Viktor is engaged now, and hasn't written to Mione since just after the Easter holidays. She hasn't 'got' him. Some girl he met at a quidditch match has him now. Hermione was never interested in him that way, anyway. If you must know, she only went to the Yule Ball with him because she was upset that a certain red-haired, thick headed, totally oblivious, _git_ didn't ask her, first!" She advanced on him now, jabbing him in the chest with her finger. "If you don't get your act together but soon, you run the real risk of losing her." Her expression softened, now. "Personally, I think she's the best thing to ever happen to you. Just make sure you figure it out soon." She gave him a hand up, then gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I want to see you happy."

Ron had a sort of stunned bunny look on his face, as he contemplated what his sister had just said. A thought struck him, and he turned to Harry. "So mate, what do you think of all of this? You don't mind if 'Mione and I get together?"

"All I ask, Ron, is that you do your best to make her happy. Just as the Burrow is the only place I've ever felt like a part of a real family, Hermione is like the sister I never had. Just know one thing. I know that, if I ever hurt Ginny, you and the rest of the brothers would be after me. Same thing goes for me. You ever hurt my sister, I'll hurt you back, ten times worse. Deal?"

Ron put his hand out with a smile. "Deal." As they shook on it, he replied, "Just remember that. If you hurt Ginny, and she leaves anything of you, we'll finish the job." A little more quietly, he jabbed a thumb in Ginny's direction and said, "Just be careful with this one. She's as smart as Hermione, and trained up by the Twins. Not a good one to cross."

"I sort of had that feeling already." He put his arm around the pretty young witch in question and said, "Why don't we head in, before your mum goes balistic."

As they were sitting down to lunch, they heard a car pull up outside. A moment later, there was a knock on the door. When Molly answered the door, the teens heard her say, "Well, hello dear, We wondered when you were going to get here." As she released the visitor from one of her trademark huge hugs, they saw who it was. Ginny was immediately on her feet to greet the visitor.

"Hermione!" The bushy-haired witch was caught up in a hug that almost rivaled Molly's, and she gave back as good as she got.

Once she was released from the embrace, she went straight to Harry, catching him up in a hug that threatened to rebreak his ribs. "How are you, Harry? Were they horrible to you? How long have you been here? Have you gotten your O.W.L.s yet? Have you heard about the ban being lifted, yet?" All of these questions were delivered without a pause.

The emerald-eyed young wizard regarded his friend with an amused expression as he replied. "You know, you might want to take the occasional breath, Mione, or you'll do yourself some damage. To answer your questions, fine, yes they were but I'll never have to go back there, five days, no, and yes, it's being lifted. In fact, we were outside practicing earlier." He saw the look that started to cross her face as she processed the answers, and knew what she was about to say. "Before you say anything, I really am doing well now. Not great, but I'm getting there." He put his arm around Ginny's waist, pulling her close, and finished. "If you don't believe me, ask Ginny."

Hermione's brown eyes went wide as she realized the implications of what she was hearing and seeing. "Does this mean you two are together?" As they confirmed it, she pulled them both into another hug. "It's about time. I'm so happy for you both." Suddenly, she realized there was somebody she hadn't said hello to, yet. She saw Ron standing off to one side, and threw her arms around him. Awkwardly, he returned the embrace, obviously not knowing where to put his hands. He settled for patting her back, as she moved away.

Molly chose that moment to call for the two boys. "Harry and Ron! Come bring Hermione's things inside and take them to Ginny's room, please."

The two of them made their way to the the car outside. They were taking the trunk out of the boot when they were approached by the parents of their other best friend. Mrs Granger spoke up first. Once introductions had been made, she said, "It's so nice to finally meet you two. Hermione has told us so much about you both, we feel like we already know you two. So, tomorrow is your birthday, Harry?" At his nod, she continued. "Well, happy birthday. We wish we could stay for the party tomorrow, but we have to catch the train tonight for a dental convention." She seemed to hesitate a bit, then said, "We'd just like to thank you two for watching out for her. We know she doesn't tell us everything, as she doesn't want us to worry. We're pretty good at reading between the lines, though. As much as we'd like to protect our little girl from all the awful things that happen in your world, we know that you're already taking care of that for us. Thank you so much."

Harry and Ron shared a look as she was saying this, and the redhead gave his friend a nod, as if yielding the floor. Harry considered his words for a moment, then spoke.

"Mr and Mrs Granger, to tell the truth, your daughter hasn't needed protecting for quite some time now. In case nobody has told you this, Hermione is quite possibly the smartest, most brilliant witch to come out of Hogwarts in a very long time. She's certainly the smartest currently attending. She's the best, most loyal friend either Ron or I has ever had. Aside from being incredibly brave on her own, standing up to a lot of rubbish from people who have tried to push her around for not having a magical family, she's pulled the fat out of the fire for both of us, more times than I like to count. She's probably the only reason the two of us have passed any of our tests the past couple years, she figured out which potion I had to take to get to the Philosopher's Stone our first year, as well as providing the vital clue as to what was living in the Chamber of Secrets our second year, which allowed me to be able to save the life of the girl I'm now in love with. Our third year, she kept me from killing my own godfather, and fourth year, she helped me work my way through the spells I needed for the maze in the final challenge in the Tri-Wizard Tournament." A look of anguish crossed his face as he thought about what he would say next. He closed his eyes as he finished. "Last year, if I'd only listened to her, my godfather might still be alive." This last was said in a much quieter voice. After a moment, he said, "If anybody deserves thanks, it's her. She's been there for me, for both of us really, through everything." His expression was wry as he said, "Even when Ron and I were complete prats, and probably didn't deserve it." The bushy-haired young witch had come out during this speech, and was amazed at what she was hearing. Harry looked steadily at her and said, "I don't think I've ever told you this before, 'Mione, but I consider you the sister I never had. Thank you."

The Grangers stared at Harry in complete shock, including Hermione. The dark haired young wizard turned to go back into the house, but didn't make it more than a couple of steps, before being tackled from behind. For the third time in less than an hour, his best female friend was squeezing all the air from his lungs. All the while, she was saying things he couldn't quite make out, as she was talking straight into his chest. After a couple of minutes of this, Ron came up to her, saying, "Um, 'Mione, I'm pretty sure Harry would like to actually hear what you're saying, not to mention the whole breathing thing. He can't, you know, when you're squeezing him like that."

Flushing, she finally let Harry go, allowing him to reclaim a bit of oxygen into his lungs. As he gingerly drew breath once more, she shyly looked at him. "Do you really consider me a sister?"

He gave a small smirk as he replied. "Of course I do. Why else would I let you get away with being so bossy to me, any time I want to have a little fun, instead of writing out some dreadful History of Magic essay?"

She smacked him lightly on the arm, murmuring, "Prat." Her smile turned wistful. "I always wondered what it would be like to have a brother." Now it was her turn to smirk. "Just don't let me catch you being as over-protective as him." She jerked her thumb over at Ron. "I'd have to learn that Bat-Bogey Hex from Ginny."

Over her shoulder, Harry could see her dad glancing at his watch. It was a perfect time to change the subject. "I think your parents want to say goodbye, so they can get going."

Hermione's eyes shot open, as she realized she'd forgotten they were standing behind her. She turned to say her goodbyes to them, as the two boys brought her trunk into the house and up the stairs to Ginny's room.

A while later, all four teens were sprawled around the sitting room. Harry was laying on the sofa, his head in Ginny's lap, her fingers working their way through his hair. Hermione was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, giving the appearance of reading the latest issue of Witch Weekly. Ron was sitting on an armchair next to the couch, leafing idly through last month's Which Broom. Both Harry and Ginny caught the furtive glances the other two continuously shot at the other. It was getting quite maddening, really. Hermione hadn't turned more than a couple of pages in the past half hour, while in the same time, Ron had flipped through the same magazine at least a dozen times Harry had seen. Finally, he covered his face with his hands, groaning. That got both of their attention.

Hermione looked up sharply, a worried expression on her face. "Are you alright Harry? Is it your scar?"

Just as quickly, Ron asked, "Something wrong, mate?"

Harry looked up at Ginny. Having watched the same thing her boyfriend had, when she wasn't looking at him, she rolled her eyes. Thinking quickly, he said, "I just realized I have to finish my Transfiguration essay. I promised I'd have it done before the weekend."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "Would you like a hand with it? Mine's been done for ages, now."

"Erm, well, sure. I wasn't going to ask you, though. I know how you usually feel about that kind of stuff."

"Well, I probably shouldn't, but how could I let my brother get behind in his homework? Is everything in your room?"

He nodded at her, and she headed upstairs to get the books and everything he would need for his essay. Once she was out of the room, Ron spoke up. "Whaddya want to bet she doesn't act that way if I ask her for help? Hmph!" He went back to his magazine, looking a bit miffed.

Ginny bent down to whisper in Harry's ear. "That's it. Tonight, they get locked in the broom shed out by the paddock."

Hermione came back down before Harry could reply, and hauled him up off the sofa. "Come on, you. It looks like you have it mostly done, so it shouldn't take long to finish up." He got a quick kiss from Ginny before being pulled out to the kitchen table.

A while later, she was looking something up in the textbook for him, while he finished writing the sentence he was currently on. Looking to make sure that Ron was still out in the sitting room, Harry turned back to the girl he considered a sister. He sat back, folding his arms, just watching her. Finally, he couldn't resist any longer. He quietly said, "Mione, I've been wanting to ask you something. How do you really feel about Ron?"

A blush worthy of a Weasley came up on her cheeks. She wouldn't look at him as she said, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Apart from being a bit of a prat at times, he's a good friend."

Harry wasn't to be deflected this easily, though. "Hermione, look at me, please." When she did, a moment later, he asked, "Can you honestly tell me that you feel nothing but friendship for Ron?"

The bushy-haired young witch did her best to try to deny the feelings she had, but couldn't manage to say anything. Every time she opened her mouth to say something, her voice just seemed to leave her. This gave her the appearance of a guppy after a few minutes, and she finally sat back in her chair with her arms crossed. After engaging in a staring contest with him for a bit, she asked, a bit grumpily, "When did _you_ get to be the expert on feelings, anyway?"

After thinking a bit, he replied. "I've spent the past weeks since end of term thinking of nothing _but_ feelings. I thought about the dead-end thing with Cho, my feelings about Sirius and what happened to him, how much of a prat I was with everybody around me, and last but not least, Ginny. It took me a long time to finally figure out what I feel for her, but now that I know, I'm not letting her get away from me. Ever."

At this point, Hermione's jaw was hanging open. She'd had no idea what deep currents ran through her emerald-eyed best friend. He had never opened up to her this way before, and she wasn't going to take the chance that he'd stop now. When she didn't say anything Harry continued.

"Knowing what I know now, it's kind of hard to miss what's going on between you and Ron. There's a kind of electricity between you two. It's almost like you fight because you can't find any other way to deal with the attraction between you." He got a bit of a twinkle in his eyes then, almost reminiscent of professor Dumbledore. "Watch Ron's face, the next time you two row. I've noticed that he gets kind of a grin, like he's enjoying it. It's not really that obvious, unless you're watching for it. Come to that, I've seen the same thing on your face as well." There was a mischievous smile on his face now. "Just a warning, sister of mine. If you two don't do something about it soon, you may find yourselves locked in a broom cupboard somewhere." Now the look was an all-out grin. "A nice spacious one, with soft surfaces and lots of pillows."

Her face was now turning a red to beat any two Weasley's combined. "Harry James Potter!" she hissed. "If you think that..." She was silenced by a kiss on the cheek from the one she considered a brother, as he got up.

"Hermione, I just want to see you two happy. You've been there for me through everything, and I happen to think that you two belong together. Think on it. I'm a bit tired at the moment, and I think I'll go upstairs for a bit." Gathering everything up neatly, he went out to the sitting room to get a kiss from Ginny before heading upstairs.

The bushy-haired witch looked a bit shell-shocked as she sat down on the sofa next to Ginny. This much talk about feelings from Harry was unprecedented. Ginny saw the look on her face, and wondered what could have happened to produce this kind of reaction, but she had a bit of an idea. Harry had been surprising her in various ways for the past four years now. The past couple of weeks had just been the topping on the cake, so to speak. She also saw the speculative way her friend was looking at Ron. This, to her mind, only confirmed her suspicions. She grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her up.

"Come on. Let's go down by the pond. We haven't had a chance to really catch up yet."

As they headed outside, Ron's eyes followed them. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to know what they were discussing at this point. It was hard to tell with those two, but he knew he was right when the sound of giggles and the occasional squeal came drifting back through the open window. For some reason, any time he heard sounds like that, he got a bit nervous. The looks he got from both girls when they came back inside later didn't help, either.

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The next morning dawned entirely too early. Harry was the first one up, though not because of nightmares, for once. He realized that this was the first morning in a while where that was the case. He lay there for a bit, trying to figure out what had woken him. He had a feeling of anticipation, though for what, he wasn't sure. He knew it was a while before their return to school, and he couldn't think of anything else that he would be dreading. He realized that it was more like the feeling he'd had in the days before Christmas since starting at Hogwarts. It was a feeling of looking forward to something, rather than dreading it. After a few minutes, it hit him. Today was his birthday. It was the first one he'd ever looked forward to, the first time it would ever really be celebrated, rather than glossed over as just another day.

With this happy thought in mind, he clambered out of bed, grabbed a pair of sweatpants and his trainers, and got dressed. He headed outside for his morning run around the paddock. Once he was outside, he did a few stretches, and started jogging. This was something that Madame Pomfrey had reccomended to help speed his recovery, as he'd lost quite a bit of weight during his weeks with the Dursleys, as well as a lot of conditioning. She'd set him a program of light physical training, to help him get back in shape. Every morning since being at the Burrow, he'd gotten up early to exercise. The first day, he'd barely made two laps around the paddock before collapsing. Now though, he was able to make a steady ten laps, before doing the rest of his exercises. After he was done running, he stretched out, then proceeded to the other exercises, push-ups for upper body strength, sit-ups for abdominal strength, pull-ups for his arms, and jumping-jacks for endurance. When all of that was done, he went back inside to shower and get dressed. So far, he didn't think anyone in the house knew how he was pushing himself every morning to get back in shape.

Any time he started to wonder why he was doing all of this, he remembered the running duel at the Department of Mysteries, and swore that there was no way he would allow anyone to get hurt because of him again. In that same vein, he made a mental note to himself to speak with the headmaster about continuing his lessons in Occlumency, to prevent the Wanker from getting inside his head again. While he had finally come to accept that Sirius' death wasn't entirely his fault, he knew that he carried more than a bit of the blame for it, and didn't want any more deaths on his conscience, that he could prevent. The only condition he would set, if possible, would be that he would _not_ be taking lessons from professor Snape. He didn't want to have to deal with the obvious enmity the potions master had for his father, and by extension, Harry. He knew that it just wouldn't work. There _had_ to be someone else who could teach him. He'd also ask about continuing with the DA. It had been fairly obvious that the people who'd been part of that organization had seemed to be much more confident when taking the DADA OWL. It couldn't hurt to reinforce that, and who knew what would be taught in DADA this year. Come to that, he wondered who would be the professor for that class this year.

Stepping out of the shower, he looked in the mirror and looked himself over critically. To his own eye, he could see the difference in himself from the way he'd looked just a scant couple of weeks ago. Between the morning workout and Molly's excellent, and abundant, cooking, he was in much better shape than he had been. The scars decorating his body, with the exception of the infamous curse-scar, were actually starting to fade. That was the reason he never wore a shirt when he did his morning routine. He knew that the tan he was starting to finally get was helping to dull most of the scars. The one on his forehead was bad enough, and he didn't need to hear people gasp every time he took his shirt off, due to all the marks his uncle had given him, along with the ones he'd picked up in all of the encounters with Voldemort and his minions. Combing his hair back, he noticed that it was actually behaving somewhat decently, for a wonder. Looking at it, he realized that it was longer than it had ever been, just past his shoulders. Looking through drawers, he found a black hair tie with a silver celtic trinity symbol affixed to it. Pulling his hair into a pony-tail, he tied it back. He decided that, no matter how exposed it left his scar, he liked the look of it, and left it.

Back in his room a moment later, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He noticed that it was a bit too tight, and made a note to ask about seeing what could be done about the state of his wardrobe. Everything he had was either three sizes too big, or much too small. There was no happy medium in his choice of clothes.

Heading down to the kitchen, he realized that nobody else was out of bed yet. Feeling a bit peckish, he decided to start making breakfast himself. It was something he knew he could do well, and it would be a nice idea to give Molly a break from at least one of the many chores she took on for her family. Twenty minutes later, as everybody else started to drift downstairs, he had a tableful of food already plated up. There were chocolate-chip pancakes, rashers of bacon, bangers, kippers, scrambled eggs with peppers, fried potatoes, and toast ready for everybody. Molly was in shock, as she surveyed the spread he had laid out.

"Harry, did you cook all of this?"

He nodded. "Sure did, Molly-Mum."

"You know, you shouldn't have to do all of this. It _is_ your birthday, after all. You should have let me do it."

He waved off the objection. "You have enough to do. Besides, at least I picked up _one_ useful skill, living with the Dursleys. Even _they_ don't complain about my cooking, so I must've got it right." He saw the stormclouds gathering on her face at the mention of his blood family, and wanted to head anything off. He headed over to Molly and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He said, "Don't worry about it, Mum. It's something I actually enjoy doing once in a while, especially when it's for people I love. Alright?"

Her eyes moistened at this. "Alright then, Harry dear. As long as it's something you enjoy doing. Just remember, you won't be doing this all the time. It _is_ still _my_ job."

Harry laughed. "Of course. Far be it from me to take your job from you. Not to mention the fact that you're the best cook on the planet."

She swatted him and shooed him towards the table. "Alright, you. Now sit down and get yourself some breakfast, before this lot devours it all on you." As he sat down next to Ginny, she continued. "Now then. As Harry did the cooking this morning, that means that Ron and Hermione will do the clean-up." The two in question agreed, reluctantly in one case, and eagerly in the other.

Fred spoke up now. "Never knew you were such a good cook, Harrykins."

George was next. "No kidding, mate. You'll make somebody a good wife someday."

Both of them shot a significant glance at Ginny.

"Not like that one knows anything about cooking."

"That's the truth. Mum's the only one in this house that _can_ cook."

"How'd you know what her favorite food is?"

Harry asked, "The pancakes?"

"Yep. Why do you think they've disappeared so quick?"

"It's not all down to Ronniekins. Though he _did_ make a bit of a dent in them."

Ginny sat with her arms crossed, glaring at the Twins. "That's enough, you two. Or did you forget the letter we got when we brought Harry home, about being able to use magic at home this summer."

Harry said, "Yeah. I know you two have been on the receiving end of her Bat-Bogey a fair few times, and don't fancy a repeat, right?"

Fred looked at George. "You know, I'm not sure how much I like these two working together so well."

"Right. It could get a bit scary."

Harry leaned over to Ginny, put an arm around her, and gave her a kiss. Turning back to Gred and Forge, he fixed them both with a look of determination. "You lot had better just get used to it. Now that I've found who I want, I'm not letting go of her." He recognized the look the two traded, and continued. "And if you two have any idea of pranking me, just give a bit of thought to the fact that, in front of you, sits the only remaining heir to the Marauders."

The jaws of two ginger-haired twins dropped now. In chorus, they asked, "What? The Marauders? What are you on about?"

Harry grinned a slightly evil grin now, his eyes showing the same twinkle Hermione had seen the day before. "You know. Moony, Padfoot and Prongs?"

"What about Wormtail?"

Emerald eyes darkened now, to a deep jade, almost flinty. His voice went hard. "We _don't_ mention _that_ name. That is the name of the traitor." He brought one hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose under his glasses. He felt Ginny's hand lightly squeeze his leg under the table, reaffirming her support. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek in thanks.

Looking around, he continued. "I see that a little history lesson is in order. I'll say this once, and we won't mention his name again."

Gathering himself, he started. "The Marauders, Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail, were, as you probably know, the most prolific pranksters to ever walk the halls of Hogwarts. They were best friends, for a long time. Moony and Padfoot you already know. Si-Siruis was Padfoot, Moony was Remus Lupin, Prongs was my dad, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew was Wormtail. Peter, Dad and Sirius were all unregistered Animagi. Dad was a stag, Siruis was a grimm, and Peter was a rat. Sometimes, I wonder if that shouldn't have told them something." He went quiet for a moment as he contemplated this. Feeling the support from Ginny on one side, and now a hand on his shoulder from Hermione, he was able to continue.

"All through school, they were inseparable. They pranked everything and everyone, in ways even you two never thought of. To put it in a bit of perspective, they apparently created the map you two gave me in their second year. They were _that_ smart and that good. They became Animagi to keep Remus company, on the full moon. They were self-taught, and very few people knew about it.

"During the first war with Voldemort (oh, stop flinching, Ron), there was a prophecy made, one of many, actually. This one was a bit more significant than most, though. I'll come to that in a bit. Believe me, it's relevant. As a result of this prophecy, my parents went into hiding. As part of this, they went under the _Fidelius_ charm. It seemed obvious to most that the natural secret-keeper for them would have been Sirius, as he had been Dad's best friend forever. Sirius had another idea, however. He thought that it would seem less obvious to use Peter. Nobody would ever think of that, and they would focus all of their attention on Sirius, leaving Peter free to go into hiding on his own." He was lost in thought for a few moments. "Come to that, it was actually a brilliant idea. It was the last thing anybody would suspect. What they didn't know, though, was the fact that Peter had already been compromised by Voldemort. Nobody but the two of them knows how, to this day.

"As seemingly everybody in the wizarding world knows, my parents were attacked and killed by the Wanker on Halloween 1981. Peter betrayed them, leading them to their deaths, leaving me an orphan and in the oh so _loving_ care of the Dursleys." He tried to keep the bitterness from his voice, but wasn't entirely successful. He forced the impending tears back, taking a moment to compose himself. "_That's_ why we don't speak that name. As far as Remus and I are concerned, Peter is no longer worthy to be called a Marauder."

Ginny quietly asked, "Harry, was that prophecy the one the fight at the Ministry was over?"

He nodded. "Mum, could you put up a silencing charm?"

After that was done, he said, "Professor Dumbledore told me that he was the one who heard the prophecy, originally. He showed me, in his pensieve, what it was."

Once he told them what it said, the Twins were dumbstruck, as was Molly. The only surprises were Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Harry looked at the three of them and said, "You three don't seem to be surprised at all. Why not?"

Ron spoke up now. "Well, it's obvious, isn't it? We always knew there had to be a reason why he was after you. I mean really, why else would a dark lord target an infant? Especially when you figure that, number one, you've had a confrontation with him almost every year since school started, and number two, you've come out on top in every encounter you've had? It only makes sense."

Put that way, it was hard to argue with. Harry took a deep breath before he made the next statement. Looking around the room, he said, "I'd understand if you guys wanted to distance yourselves from me, now. I just thought, that with everything that went on at the end of last term, you deserved to know the truth."

He got a response he hadn't quite expected. Each of the two girls slugged him on a shoulder and Ron fixed him with a steely glare. "Don't make me come over this table, Potter. Do you honestly think that we'd let you go it alone?"

Fred said, "Too right, mate. Weasleys don't back down."

George added, "Especially from some snake-faced dark wanker."

Molly came around the table. "Harry, if you hadn't noticed it by now, our family is already in danger from our support of Albus Dumbledore. We would _never_ do anything that would lend support and aid to He-Who..._Voldemort._" She fairly spat the name. "I can't think of anything that would support him more than to not support you. As much as I hate the thought of my family in mortal peril, I hate even worse the thought that he would possibly win. _All_ of us will support you, and I know that I speak for Arthur, Bill and Charlie, as well."

Hermione added, "That goes for me, too. I'd be in danger any way you look at it, being muggle-born. I'll stand with you, any time, any place." She hung her head as she said, "I also want to apologize for the comment I made before we went. The one about you having a hero-complex. I was wrong. Forgive me?"

Harry nodded, and moved to give her a hug. "Of course, 'Mione. Already forgotten, alright?" At her nod, he released her. He was about to say something, but was interrupted by Ginny.

"Face it, Harry. You're stuck with us, the lot of us."

He saw nods all around the table, as all there agreed.

"I don't know what to say. Thank you. So _this_ is what it feels like to have a family."

Molly replied, "You've had one since your first year, I guess we just never said it before." She stood back up now, looking like she meant business. "Now, if everybody's done eating this wonderful breakfast, it's time for clean-up. Ron, Hermione, if you would get started on the dishes, I'll get everything put away. Harry, why don't you go outside for a while and relax."

Once he was outside, work in the kitchen started in earnest. While this was going on, Fred and George approached Molly to ask, "Mum, is it true he doesn't have to go back to them?"

"Yes. He will never go back there, and I have Albus' word on that. _This_ is his home now, for as long as he wants."

The Twins had slightly shifty looks on their faces as they continued. "So...does this mean that there wouldn't be much in the way , should we decide to try some..."

"Product testing?"

As much as she hated to admit it, the idea did have some merit.

"All I'll say about that subject is that I don't want to know about it...until well afterward." As she turned away, she stopped, looking back over her shoulder. "Just make sure the pictures are good and clear." She winked and headed into the kitchen. The Twins traded a look and headed upstairs, already rubbing their hands in anticipation.

Ginny had followed Harry outside, and was now sitting next to him, stroking his back. She knew that talking about everything had been very hard on him. She wanted to make sure he knew the support she, and the rest were there to give him.

After a bit, he laid down, head in her lap. She ran her fingers through his hair, just enjoying the time they spent together. Running her fingertips over the hair-keeper, she asked, "Where did you get this, Harry?"

"It was in one of the drawer upstairs. I hope it's ok that I'm using it."

"It's alright, love. I haven't used it since we got back from school. Just so you know, it was a gift from Michael. It looks better on you, anyway." She gave him an impish grin.

He got a smile on his face as he contemplated this. "Should be interesting, to see his reaction, when he notices me using it."

"Oh Merlin! I never thought of that aspect of it." Now she was laughing hard. "Talk about confused. He won't know what end is up."

The two of them stayed like this by the edge of the pond for the rest of the morning, until they were called in for lunch.

Hand in hand, they walked up to the house. They were so absorbed in each other that they didn't notice the flury of activity near the door. Harry opened the door, and was shocked by the loud cry, from many voices, of "Surprise!"

If it hadn't been for the fact that his girlfriend had hold of both of his hands, he would've drawn his wand at the loud noise. As it was, it took him a moment to see the flashing banner that hung from the ceiling in Gryffindor red and gold, reading "Happy Birthday Harry". Looking down from this, he saw a huge crowd of people. All of the Weasleys, save Percy, were right up front, along with Hermione, Luna, and Neville. Shifting his stunned gaze from them, he looked around. He now saw Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Remus, professors McGonagall and Dumbledore, and most of the members of DA from the previous term. Harry had the look of a deer caught in the headlights, as Ginny lead him over. He was in shock.

Hermione was right there. "Harry? Alright, there?"

He shook his head in wonder. "Yeah." he replied. "It's just, when you guys said a party, I never imagined..."

"Well, you've had birthday parties before, haven't you?"

Blushing a bit, the guest of honor shook his head. "No. I mean, Dudley had them, but..."

She threw her arms around him. "Harry, I'm so sorry. I never knew."

Ron was there in an instant. "Mione, let go of him. He might want to breathe sometime this afternoon."

Chargrined, she let go in a hurry. Harry sent her a grin, letting her know not to worry. "It's ok Hermione. You can't miss what you've never had, right?" He saw that Ron had his arm around the bushy-haired witch's waist, supporting her. Supressing an even larger grin, he traded a look with Ginny.

She bent in close and said, "Guess we won't need the broom cupboard after all, eh?"

"Pity."

Laughing, they went around the room, greeting everybody. Mostly unseen by the happy couple, many looks were exchanged around the room at the sight of them walking blissfully hand in hand. It was obvious to all who saw them, how happy the two of them were, together. Quite a few jealous looks were shot at one or the other, but it was even more obvious that the two shared a bond that they wouldn't allow anyone to interfere with. Nothing was said, as it wasn't neccessary.

When the two of them saw Remus, he beamed at them. "Well, Harry, you look much better than when I saw you last time." He mused, "What is it about Potters and gorgeous redheads?"

Harry laughed and wrapped his arm around Ginny. "I don't know. Maybe they're the only ones who can keep us in line."

As they laughed at this, the redheaded girl in question looked at her boyfriend. "Don't you forget it either, Mr Potter."

Remus chuckled. "You've got your hands full with this one."

"She says I'm stuck with her, but I rather think it's the other way round. I'm the one who got the good end of the deal." With that, he planted a kiss on her lips.

A voice came from the other end of the room. "Oi! Potter! People are going to want to eat here, soon. You wanna quit molesting my sister?"

Ginny got an evil glint in her eyes at this, and grabbed Harry, pulling him into a kiss that stopped all speech in the room. Some time later, they came up for air, to catcalls from all around. She glared around at her brothers and asked, "Now. Who's molesting _whom_?" No more comments like that were directed at Harry for the rest of the day. Apparently, all in attendance were amazed at her breath control, as well as Harry's. It had been an impressive display.

They spotted Neville sitting on one of the armchairs, Luna in his lap. This was a new development. They made their way over to the other couple.

"So Neville. Got something to tell us, mate?"

"You could say that. Of course, I could ask you the same. You finally managed to snag him, eh Ginny?"

Luna joined in now. "That was quite impressive before. Are you sure the two of you aren't partly mer-people? They're able to hold their breath for hours at a time. They store oxygen in their bodies. Extra set of lungs, you know."

Neither was quite sure whether she was joking or not. The bug-eyed girl was wont to make pronouncements that sounded quite ridiculous on the face of it, but were quite serious to her. When it came to Luna, Harry was always reminded of a quote from an author, he wasn't quite sure who. The quote was about him believing five impossible things before breakfast. Whoever it was, he would've gotten along just fine with Luna Lovegood. The only difference was that she didn't see them as impossible.

After lunch, a quick game of quidditch was put together. On one team were Remus as the keeper and captain, Ginny, Angelina and Katie as chasers, Harry as seeker (naturally), and Seamus and Dean as Beaters. The other team was Ron as keeper, Charlie as seeker, the Twins as the beaters, and Bill, Fleur (his new fiance) and Alicia as chasers. Charlie had heard a lot about Harry's ability as seeker, and wanted to test himself against the newest Hogwarts legend.

As they were scavenging things to use as the various balls for the game, George yelled out, "Harry! Go get the present from Fred and me from the table! That'll save us some time out here."

He wasn't quite sure what they could be referring to, but went to get it anyway. It was easily the largest box in the stack. Lifting it, he brought it back to the paddock. The young wizard had his suspicions about what was in there, but wasn't going to make any assumptions, especially when it came to those two.

Depositing the heavy box on the ground, he shouted to the Twins, "Any pranks on the wrapping or the box?"

They tried to look innocent, an attempt in which they failed quite miserably. Seeing this, Harry took out his wand, and murmured a quick _finite incantatem._ A faint purple spark fizzled over the box. Harry shot Fred and George a glare, and pulled the wrapping off. As he opened it, he saw that the box was a complete set of quidditch balls. The glare quickly turned to a look of awe, as he realized how expensive a gift like this would have been. He was speechless, as he looked it all over.

After a moment, he got his voice back. "Alright, you gits. You're forgiven for trying to prank me." As he saw the looks of relief on their faces, he smirked. "Of course, my lovely girlfriend might not be as forgiving." The expressions on their faces were priceless, as they went paler than he had ever seen them. The problem, of course, was the fact that they had been the ones to teach her about pranking. Ginny tended to have a vindictive streak to her, especially when it came to anything done against Harry. Now that they were officially a couple, who knew what she might do?

Professor McGonagall volunteered to referee, and the game was on. Harry quickly took to the sky, assuming his station, searching for the elusive snitch. From this position, he had a very good view of Ginny and the other chasers passing the quaffle back and forth, making their way up to the hoops. Ginny had it back by the time they got there, and shot straight past Ron for the first score of the game. Scanning the area for the snitch, Harry almost missed seeing a bludger coming his way, but quickly went into a sloth-roll grip, barrel-rolling to avoid the heavy ball.

He thought Charlie looked just a bit too confident in his abilities, and decided to take him down a peg or two. Faking having seen the snitch, he took off in a high-speed dive, almost straight towards the ground. Sure enough, Charlie was right there with him, diving for the ground. Harry pulled out of the dive at the last moment, and Charlie almost didn't pull out in time. When he did manage to pull out, he overcorrected, and shot back into the air like a cork in a tub. Harry slowly made his way back up, circling the pitch. The other seeker came in close, matching his speed.

"Nice feint, Harry. You won't get me like that again, though."

Harry shot him back a grin that seemed to say, "Won't I?" and the chase was on again.

By the time he spotted the snitch for real, the score was seventy to forty, in favor of Harry's team. He took off at top speed after the elusive little winged ball, with Charlie almost on top of him. They caught up to it at the base of the middle goalpost, and pursued it all the way to the other end of the pitch. Harry laid himself flat along his broom, reaching for the snitch, Charlie doing the same alongside him. Harry beat him to it by just a fingerlength, winning the game. He flew back into the air, holding it out in his hand, hearing the cheers of his team. Slowly, he spiraled down to the ground, before he relinquished his hold of the small sphere. After putting it back in the box, he turned to Charlie, offering his hand.

"Nicely played. I can see why they always compare me to you."

Taking the proferred hand, the second oldest son shook his head, replying, "Now I know what all the fuss is about. That Wronski Feint ought to be changed to Potter Feint."

In high spirits, the whole group headed back to the house. It had been a good game for all, but now everybody just wanted to sit and relax for a while. As they neared the door, Molly came outside with a pitcher of lemonade and a tray of glasses following her. As she set the tray down, she adressed the group.

"Once all of you manage to get some breath back in your bodies, I think it's time that Harry opens his gifts." As she made her way back inside, the birthday boy could have sworn he heard her muttering something about the presents opening themselves, but couldn't be sure.

Once everybody felt like moving again, they made their way inside. Harry was steered towards the sofa, and Ginny and Hermione sat on either side of him, with Ron on the floor in front of the bushy-haired witch. Once this particular seating arrangement was worked out, everyone else found seats, or stood around the outside of the room. It took a few minutes (as well as a subtly cast expansion charm from a certain twinkle-eyed headmaster), but everybody eventually found a place. Molly took a fairly large box, very carefully, from in front of the table, and gingerly handed it to Harry.

"If you don't open this one soon, I believe it may well open itself." she said with a barely supressed smile.

He was a bit nervous, as the box seemed to move on it's own as he took it. The Twins looked as curious as everybody else, so he was fairly sure it wasn't something from them, that might explode. He plucked the card from the top, surprised to see that it was from Hermione. He looked over at her, and she was fairly bouncing on the sofa. Grinning at the sight of one of his two best friends acting like a small child at Christmas (and not the one you'd expect, either), he turned back to the box. Lifting the top off, he looked inside. Curled up next to each other in the box were two feline forms. One was jet black, with dark green eyes, a white blaze on his chest, and ears and tail tipped in gold. The other was ginger colored, with white splotches all over, eyes the color of chocolate, and silver on the tips of the ears and tail. The ears on both were a bit larger than you'd normally expect, and the tails looked remarkably like that of a lion. They also seemed to have vestigial wings sprouting from behind their shoulder blades. Both woke at the same time, and yawned, almost in unison, mouths wide and little pink tongues curling out. The ginger colored one looked up at Harry and meowed, standing for a moment on her hind legs, as if reaching for him. He couldn't resist then, and pulled her from the box. The darker one, meanwhile, saw Ginny's face peeking over the edge of the box and cocked his head to one side, and gave her a plaintive mew. She pulled him from the box, stroking him reassuringly. Within moments, each creature was curled up on the shoulder of it's new adopted owner.

Harry turned to Hermione. "Are these what I think they are?"

"Yes, they're knealins. I was in Diagon Alley a few days ago, trying all day to find you the perfect birthday gift. I stopped in Magical Menagerie to pick up a new brush for Crookshanks, as he'd eaten the last one." Ignoring Ron's snickers, she continued. "On the way to the counter, I saw the black one. He's rather distinctive, but I didn't think you'd want a familiar that looked so much like yourself. But, when I saw the other one in the cage, I just _knew_ it was perfect, especially when the shop owner told me he'd only sell them as a pair. Apparently, any time they tried to separate them, they'd yowl until they were back in the same cage."

Ron piped up now. "Sounds a bit like you and Ginny, mate." Though he got a slap across the back of his head from Hermione, the comment did get a few people in the room chuckling, even Arthur and Molly.

Hermione asked, "Any ideas for names, yet?"

He peered at the kneazle a moment, before shrugging his other shoulder. "Dunno. I'll have to think on it a bit."

"By the way, I also have a book for you, all about their care and feeding, as well as special abilities."

With that, Molly started bringing more presents over. From her and Arthur, he received a muggle CD player, charmed to work in a magical environment. Along with this was an assortment of CDs of all types. It seemed that everybody had picked out one or two, so he got a wide variety of music, and looked forward to hearing them all. The only one he wasn't very sure about was the one of highland bagpipe tunes, though he later expressed the opinion they might come in handy if Mrs Norris came too close to the dorm. Ron gave him a tabletop quidditch game, to be used for helping to plan out new manuevers or in replaying games.

Tonks, Moody, and Kingsley had heard from professor McGonagall about his ambitions towards becoming an auror, and had gone in together to get him presents reflecting this. Tonks had given him a copy of the auror training handbook, Moody gave him twin dragon-hide wand holsters, and from Kingsley, he received a vest made from Ukrainian Ironbelly hide. The three of them had also gone in together, to get him a set of battle robes, with protection charms woven through the fabric. They promised to let him know later what was all involved and how it worked.

There were quite a few other gifts, but the one that stood out the most was from Remus. It was a low stone bowl, with sygils and runes all around the outside rim. Harry had used a pensieve before, though not quite with the foreknowledge of the owner. In the box with the bowl were three sealed metal tubes. One looked quite a bit older than the others, and had two sets of initials on the lid, J.P., and L.P. The initials on the others were R.L. and S.B.

"Remus? Where did you get a pensieve, and what are these tubes?"

"It belonged to Sirius' family, and the tubes contain, well, memories. How about if we talk more about all of this tomorrow, alright? It'll take a little time to prepare it."

Harry nodded, while contemplating what might be in there. The possibilities were overwhelming.

Not too long after the presents were opened, people started to drift into different groups around the house and yard. Harry walked around, visiting with his friends, both from school, as well as from the Order. Dean was chatting up Lavender on one side of the room, and looked as if he'd be successful, from the way she was repaying his attention. Harry gave him a nod and made his way to the next group. It looked like Seamus and Parvati had gotten together, and both were spying somewhat covertly on their friends. Parvati giggled a bit as she watched them. Harry joined the two of them.

"So, Seamus, does your mum still think I'm a nutter?" He gave a little smile to take the sting from the question.

The other boy shook Harry's outstretched hand, while shaking his head. "No, mate. She knows what's going on now. Just to clear the air, I never thought you were, either, but..." His words trailed off here.

"I know. Things were a bit crazy last year, to tell the truth. How 'bout we start over?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Parvati, what's so funny about those two getting together?" He pointed over toward Seamus' best friend and hers. "You _do_ know his reputation as a ladies man, right?"

Giggling again, she replied. "Yes, I do, and so does Lavender. She's going to make sure she gets some of him, and see if she can't keep him, too. If I know her, she'll manage it." Eyeing Harry speculatively, she continued. "You should just be glad you and Ginny are a couple, now. Until she found out about that, she had her sights set on you."

The raven-haired wizard happened to be taking a drink of butterbeer at the moment, and he found out what it was like for that particular beverage to shoot out of his nose. Not exactly a pleasant experience.

As he was recovering from this, he heard an amused sounding voice behind him. "I believe butterbeer, as with most drinks, is usually consumed through the mouth, in an inward manner. But, to each his own."

Turning, Harry saw twinkling blue eyes peering out from a lined face, surrounded by silver-white hair, with a similarly colored beard down to the owner's waist.

"Hello, professor. I'll try to keep that in mind in future. I just hope Parvati manages to improve her timing." This was delivered with a bit of a grimace. He really didn't want to think about the implications of what she had said. Lavender was a nice enough girl, but a bit too giggly for his taste, as well as a bit shallow at times.

By now, Ginny and Hermione had come up to either side of him, in flanking positions. As each girl took one of his arms, Dumbledore spoke again.

"Harry, I wonder if I might trouble you with a couple of questions." At the questioning, slightly guarded look in the emerald eyes, he continued. "First of all, have you given any thought to continuing with the DA?"

"Well, I guess that would depend on who we get stuck with as a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. I mean, if it's somebody who knows what they're doing, it wouldn't be needed, would it?"

"Actually, my boy, given the perilous times we live in, I believe that for our students to have a practical knowledge of the kind you instructed your members in will be absolutely essential. As you and your friends so ably demonstrated, not so long ago. Indeed, if it hadn't been for the practical instruction you gave, they very likely wouldn't have succeeded."

"Professor, I know that, if I hadn't been such an idiot..."

Hermione interrupted now. "Harry, what he's saying is that your lessons saved our lives. Even if we hadn't had the DA, we would have gone. What do you think our chances would have been without that?"

That stopped him cold. "I hadn't thought about it in that light."

The headmaster's next words really made him think. "We received the O.W.L. scores last week. Letters should be reaching you in the next few days. I've compared the Defense scores DA members received against the rest of your year. Only three students who weren't part of that organization received an O in that particular subject. All of your members scored high." The twinkle in his eyes went into high gear now. "As a matter of fact, you scored the only Oin school history. Even your father only received an O, and he completed auror training in less than a quarter of the regular time."

"When you put it that way, how can I refuse? Once we get back to school, I'll talk to the DADA teacher, so we can coordinate what's being taught where, and so I can get some suggestions."

If the twinkle had been in high gear a moment ago, it was hitting the afterburners and heading to the stratosphere now. "Actually, you won't have to wait long at all, if you don't want to. The new, or should I say returning, Defense instructor is standing right behind you." He gestured for someone to come forward. Following his gaze, Harry looked to his right and saw Remus coming to stand beside Dumbledore. Harry's eyes brightened as he saw this.

"Remus? You're coming back to Hogwarts? That's great!" He had one question. "Wait, though. During the full moon, does this mean that Sna-Professor Snape will be taking over your classes?"

The look that the professors traded made the younger wizard a bit uneasy. That was explained when Dumbledore next spoke.

"Actually, Harry, that leads me to my next request. Over the past few years, as you may have noticed, findingcompetent Defenseinstructors has been problematic, to say the least. Professor Lupin, while easily the best instructor we've had in at least the past ten years, has his own somewhat unique limitations. I thought it might be be easier on him, if you could take the first through fourth years, leaving him free to work with the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. students."

"Take the...wait...you want me to... No. Even _you_ aren't that nuts..." His eyes flew wide, and if it hadn't been for the two girls holding onto his arms, he might have fallen. Quickly, they guided him to a seat on the sofa. Looking between the two older men, he realized they were quite serious. "You're nutters, the both of you! Gone right round the bend. Bloody crazy." He buried his head in his hands for a moment.

"Harry, I'd like you to seriously think about this. There really aren't very many options open to us. We haven't been able to find anybody trustworthy, who would be willing to work part-time, even those who aren't worried about Remus' condition. If you would, please think about it and give me an answer by the end of the week. If you decide to accept, let professor McGonagall know which texts you wish to use. She'll need to include that with the letters, which go out soon." He gave a wink. "Despite your doubts, I am quite sure of the stability of my faculty. In all senses of the word."

With that, he and Remus walked away, to mingle with the rest of the guests.

"They're both nuts. Bonkers. Both of them. And people say _Luna's_ loony." He rambled on in this vein for a bit, before Hermione intruded on his reflections.

"I, for one, think he's absolutely right."

"It's contagious. Now _you're_ the one going nuts. Of course, you _have_ fallen for Ron..." He smirked at her, as she hit him on the arm. There would be bruises on that arm before the day was out, he was quite sure. Deep ones.

"I am _quite_ sane, thank you very much." She was obviously choosing to ignore the other part of his statement. "I don't think they're crazy, either. Think about it. Who else has as much practical experience in Defense? I mean, you've faced Voldemort almost every year since school started, and lived." She hesitated a moment before her next quiet statement. "I know you hate your fame, but maybe you can get it to work for you, this time. You have the chance to ensure that, even if they don't sign up for DA, even the younger students will have at least _some_ knowledge of how to protect themselves, if, no _when_, they need it." An intent look came into her eyes now, as something else came to her. "This also means that, as a member of staff, you'll be able to deal with _all_ of the professors on an even footing. _Including _Professor Snape."

Harry dropped his head back into his hands. _"Argh!"_ He ran his fingers through his hair as he threw himself against the back of the couch. "I don't know, 'Mione. I really don't. I'm a _student,_ for Merlin's sake. I have to admit, though, that as crazy as it sounds, you've made some good points."

As she got up, she dropped a kiss on his cheek. "Just think about it." He nodded as she walked away.

He turned to Ginny. "What do you think?"

"I think you're both right. He's nuts, but it's a good idea, for the reasons Mione mentioned. Kids in the wizarding world have grown up knowing about you ever since your parents died. Much as you might hate that, it can be used to your advantage." A slightly evil grin came over her face now. "Just imagine how peeved Snape would be to have to acknowledge you as a colleague."

That thought had a certain appeal, he had to admit.

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**A/N:** Both of us apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out. We were struck by the dreaded RLS (Real Life Syndrome). Trust me. You really, really, really don't want to know. We've been looking for a competent obliviator recently, so that we can forget the past month or so. Urgh. Hopefully, the chapter was worth the wait. All that remains is to reply to a couple of things brought up by our lovely reviewers.

GiGiFanFic: Voldie and his Death-Monkeys won't get a chance at the Dursleys. The Twins have the capability to be much more capable and entertaining, don't you think? insert evil giggle here And yes, unfluffy can definitely be a word. We said so. (Note from Bill: Perspective will be finished soon (really!) and LC&S will be the next thing after that to be continued, as well as a couple others he has plans for.)

Korrd: Near the end of chapter one, the wall was pulled away from where it met the floor. It was basically only one wall that was transformed. Remus didn't want to permanently entomb the fat git, just teach him a lesson.

Jaquelyne: Thanks for the kind comment. Bill and I both look forward to the next installment in Bedtime Stories. We still want to see what happens when our favorite couple talk to Hermione the next morning. Should be fun.

Thanks to all who reviewed, for your support and kind comments.


	4. Chapter 4: Legal Obligations

**Disclaimer:** I think we all know the drill by now. None of this is mine besides the plot and the occasional OC. As there aren't many OC's (_yet_), that's a fairly moot point. BTW, this is now officially an AU, since the lovely Ms Rowling has denied any possibility of Luna and Neville getting together. Only problem is, she didn't tell the two of them _:pointing toward the corner of the room:_ and they won't stop snogging. They're sweet, but kinda gross to watch. :_:shrug:_ Whattya gonna do, eh?

**Legal Obligations:**

As the last of the guests were leaving, Remus pulled Harry to one side. "Tonks and I'll be by in the morning, so we can head to Gringott's, to take care of a few things. After lunch, I'll show you a few things with the pensieve. The headmaster thought that, aside from the memories that are in those tubes, it would be a useful way for you to try to work through some things." He hesitated a bit before continuing. He was clearly uncomfortable with what he would say next. "The goblins at Gringott's will have some papers you need to go over."

Harry wasn't sure he wanted to know what this was about, as it so obviously bothered Lupin. "What papers? Why do I need to go over them? " He had an uneasy feeling, which was only confirmed by the werewolf's response.

"It has to do with Si-Padfoot's will. He left pretty much everything to the two of us. We're supposed to go over it all together, so I haven't even looked at everything yet."

"I don't want..."

"I know, Harry, but you know how contrary that mutt could be." He said with a rueful chuckle. "Count on it. He'll have found a way to make sure we take it, and spend a good chunk of it."

"I miss him, Professor. I really do."

"I do too, Harry more than you can know. He was like a brother to me, like James." Lupin looked sharply at Harry, though with a bit of a smirk hidden in his eyes. "Anyway, what's with this 'professor' stuff? I was Remus, before."

"Yeah, but that was before I knew you were going to be teaching again this year." The young wizard had a small playful smile of his own, now. "Besides, I have to start respecting my elders, sometime, right? "

Remus glared at Harry. "Elders? I'll give you elders." Soon the two were wrestling on the ground.

When Molly came upon the strange sight of a man in his mid-thirties and a sixteen year old boy tussling on the ground, she was concerned, until she heard the two of them laughing. She tutted as she watched. It was good to see the boy (not a boy, but a young man) acting like a teenager, but _honestly_. It only went to prove the old adage, _boys will be boys, no matter the age._

Once they had wound down a bit, she got their attention. "If you two are quite finished for the moment, the family has one more gift for you, Harry. We wanted to wait until it was just family again, before we gave it to you." As Remus started to make his goodbyes to her, she firmly shook her head. "Remus, I'd like you to see it, too. It's something I'd like to think Sirius would have liked."

His curiosity piqued, he couldn't leave now. Following Harry and Molly, he went inside the house.

Once inside, the two were led to the kitchen. Molly, Arthur and Ginny were the only ones standing, except for Harry. The rest of the family, along with Hermione, sat around the table. Ginny came to his side, putting her arm around his waist and drawing him close. The two parents were standing close together as well, obviously happy about the relationship Harry and Ginny were forging. They were really the only people who would ever be able to support, much less understand, the other.

Beaming at Harry, Molly spoke. "Harry, I know that we've said in the past that we consider you to be family. As far as Arthur and I are concerned, you mean as much to us as if you were one of our own. Aside from giving you Percy's old room, though, we realized we haven't really given you any lasting proof." Seeing Harry about to interrupt, she held up her hand. "I think I know what you're going to say, dear. Yes, we've invited you into our home, you've certainly gotten a Weasley jumper every Christmas, and all of that. Granted, not that many people outside of the family have gotten the jumpers..."

Fred interrupted with "Unless you count the ones that have been nicked by various girlfriends over the years."

"I think Fang swiped one of Ron's in second year." was the contribution from George.

"Can't forget the one Ronniekins gave to Dobby."

"Don't like to think about the one Gin-Gin gave to little Dennis Creevy."

"Now, George. You know it only scares you because the pale pink color better fits his complexion than our little sister's."

"Fits his figure better, too. It _was_ from when she was nine years old, you know."

"With the way she's filled out, it's better she doesn't wear it. Poor lil Harrykins would likely have a heart attack right there if he saw her in it."

At this point, both Harry and Ginny were blushing, the only difference being in the degree. Harry, surprisingly, was actually the redder of the two this time, with the mental images the running commentary was providing. For the first time in memory, the young wizard was actually glad for Dudley's old too-long sweatshirt, as it did a good job at concealing certain developing blood-flow issues.

Fixing her twin sons with a steely glare, Molly continued. "If you two have _quite_ finished, I'd like to finish giving Harry his birthday present." Seeing the looks on their faces, she was assured of their silence, at least for the time being.

"As I was saying, we have yet to show you something that truly shows how we really feel about you, and how much a part of this family you really have become. If you would look behind you, you'll see what I mean."

Harry turned to look behind him, slightly confused. He saw the door leading to the garden, the umbrella stand, the family clock, the pegs on the wall where...wait a minute. The family clock. He looked at the clock, closer this time. What he saw there brought his heart to his throat, and caused his eyes to tear.

There on the clock, between Ron and Ginny's hands, was a brand new one. Made of brilliantly polished brass, pointing to _Home_, was a hand with his own picture. Down to where it attached to the face, was simply the name 'Harry'. He couldn't stop the tears from rolling down his face, as he turned to embrace Molly and Arthur. After a moment, Ginny joined into the hug, and that was the signal for the rest of them. Soon enough, all of the Weasleys along with Hermione and Remus, were around him, patting him on the back, embracing him and welcoming him into the family.

Once everybody had separated, each to find a seat again, Harry wiped the tears from his cheeks, and spoke. "Thank you, all of you. This house was the first time I ever saw what a proper family should be, and I'm honored that you consider me a part of yours."

George had apparently decided it was time to break the mood. "That doesn't mean, though, that we won't be keeping an eye on you around Ginny."

The witch in question took matters into her own hands, before Harry even had a chance to speak. "Listen, you prat. I don't need anyone to keep an eye on us. If anybody _tries _to," The emphasis on that word was obvious. "Let's just say I have ways to convince them." Saying that, she looked briefly at her mum, winking, and reached for her wand.

Seeing this, all six brothers dove under the table, not eager to feel the wrath of their sister's bat-bogey hex. Somehow, they all managed to fit under there, though it was cramped. Having expected to find their own nasal waste flying from their noses and attacking them, they were quite relieved to hear only quiet. After a couple of minutes of huddling under the heavy table, they started to wonder about the lack of noise or, indeed, nasty winged creatures flapping about.

"George, see what she's doing."

"Are you completely nutters, Fred? Uh-uh."

"Charlie, you look. You're used to dealing with dragons for Merlin's sake."

"Nope. The worst _they_ can do is kill me. No way."

"Alright. So who's going to do it"

Five voices chorused "_Ron._"

After a bit of pushing, shoving, threats of great bodily violence and, finally, a bit of bribery (Charlie had an Agryppa chocolate frog card he was willing to sacrifice), Ron poked his head over the top of the table. The first thing he said was "Eeewwww"

"Ew? "

"Don't think I've ever heard that particular reaction to a hex before."

"Usually, when Gin-Gin's involved, there's a lot more pain in evidence."

Slowly, the other five brothers poked their heads over the table's edge. As they took in the sight that had greeted their youngest brother, they echoed his reaction.

"Eeeewwwww"

Before them was Ginny, very agressively snogging her boyfriend. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, ankles locked behind his back, and her arms were around his neck. Their lips were locked together as if spelled. Harry's hands were supporting her in the most natural place. It looked as if they were in it for the duration.

The red-headed brothers were in somewhat of a state of shock. They had known their little sister could be passionate about things, as her temper had evidenced in the past. However, they were not prepared to find that she was passionate about, well, passion. The two teens standing in front of them had apparently forgotten they weren't the only two people in the room.

Fred was the first to say something. "Erm, Harry? If I remember right, she's already had her tonsils out."

George brought up "Gin? I think Harry's appendix is out as well."

A couple more minutes went by with no separation.

Ron muttered "I really, really, really, do _not_ need to see this."

Charlie said to Bill "I always knew she was athletic, but this is getting a little silly."

Smirking, Molly said "You really do have to admire her breath control, though."

Arthur exclaimed "Blimey! Are they breathing through their ears? "

At the laughter this question incited, they finally broke apart.

Hermione mused aloud. "I know that spell. Quite easy, actually."

Ron goggled at her. "What spell? How to breathe through your ears" At her nod, he asked quietly "Think I could learn it ? "

The bushy-haired girl smirked at him. "That all depends upon how well you behave over the next couple of days." She grinned and strolled from the room, leaving a stunned Ron behind. Even Harry was impressed by the bit of swing she put into her hips, as she walked away.

That only made the rest of them laugh even harder. Ron turned back to the table and lowered his head to the surface, softly thumping his forehead against it repeatedly.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

Once Harry had finally stopped laughing long enough to speak, he told his best friend"You know, mate, I do believe she has a reason to want you to wonder about that spell." Watching the tips of the youngest Weasley male's ears turn a deep scarlet, he finished with "Sounds like an incentive to study, to me." Having given Ron something to think about, he took Ginny's hand and they went out to the sitting room.

No sooner had they sat down next to each other on the sofa, than the two knealins came to join them. The ginger colored female kitten climbed right up Harry's arm until she had reached his shoulder. Once there, she nuzzled his ear for a bit, then curled up and promptly went to sleep. He was sure the purring of the little creature could be heard in the next room. The black male climbed to Ginny's shoulder, but rather than falling asleep, looked around alertly at everything. After a couple of minutes, he spied the twitching tail of the other knealin flipping back and forth. He seemed to be mesmerized by this, and it looked as if he was trying to figure out the best way to get to the new toy he saw. Luckily, he was on Ginny's left, while the other was on Harry's right, so it was a bit difficult for him to reach her. A few moments later, the steady movement of the other tail-tip apparently lulled him, and he, too, curled up. In no time, he was snoozing away.

Ginny shook her head at him. "Well, I think I have the name for this one. Trouble."

Harry nodded in agreement. "It fits him. I was just afraid you were going to call him Harry or something."

The young witch laughed. "Nope. I don't want _him_ to take five years to decide if he likes me or not."

"You're just lucky these two are camped on our shoulders and we can't move quickly, or..."

"Oh? And just what would you do to me, Mr Potter? "

"Well, one thing Ron's mentioned once or twice over the years is the fact that a certain sister of his is quite ticklish. Right behind the knees, if I remember right."

Before she she could reply, they were interrupted by a sound from the doorway.

"Hem-hem."

Two heads swiveled as one, startled to hear that particular sound in this haven.

Remus stood there grinning at the two of them. "Now that I have your attention, I wanted to let you know that I'll be going for the night. I'll be back in the morning, so we can go over to the bank. I'll also give some thought to a few things I want to show you in the pensieve." If anything, his grin widened at this point. "Let's just say that you haven't heard anywhere _near_ all the pranks we pulled on Snivelling Sevvie, as well as a few others."

Leaving this thought with the mischievous teens, he turned from the room. A few moments later, they heard the soft _pop_ of disapparation, as he reached the edge of the wards.

* * *

The next morning found Harry and Ginny rolling their eyes at each other over the antics of her youngest brother. The two of them were at the table with Ron and Hermione, and the latter two were in yet another row. 

Harry shot a look at the beautiful young redhead next to him and asked, in a low voice"Broom shed"

She leaned over to him and whispered"I think it's the only way we'll get any peace. If they're still like this when we get back from Gringott's, in they go."

Arching an eyebrow at her, Harry asked "We? "

She nodded and twined her arm through his. "If you think I'm going to let you out of my sight now, you're sorely mistaken."

"Erm...y'know, I'll probably have to visit the loo at some point, don't you? I don't think your mum would really appreciate as being in there together."

She seemed to consider this for a moment. "I suppose you're right." She got an impish grin. "Even though it'd be one way for me to see you without your trousers, she'd probably have kittens if I went into the loo with you." At the look on his face, she broke out in uncontrollable laughter.

Ron looked up at hearing the fit of giggles his sister was having. He looked over at his best mate, and saw the almost Weasley-esque color spreading over his face. Even his ears were turning a bright cherry red. "I warned ya, mate. Told ya back in second year, I did. She never shuts up."

Hermionemuttered under her breath. "Must be something about Weasley children." before getting up and heading outside.

Ron looked between his sister and where Hermione had been sitting, and proclaimed. "Mental. The lot of them." Having said this, he grabbed another piece of toast and went up to his room.

As Harry and Ginny discussed various devious plans to lock the other two into a small space until they finally admitted what they felt for each other, Remus and Tonks arrived. He leaned against the doorway, watching the two of them laugh and scheme. It occured to him that this was the first time he'd ever seen his best friend's only son act like a teen ought to. He silently resolved that, no matter what he had to do, Harry would make it through everything alive and happy. He deserved to live the life his parents never had the chance to. He stood there watching the two until the raven-haired young man turned and saw him there, alongside the Metamorphmagus.

"Morning, Remus Hi Tonks. That time already? "

"Wotcher, Harry! How're ya doing this morning? "

Lupin nodded. "Yeah. Why don't you go get some nice robes on, and we can get going. Leave your regular clothes under them, though. Until Molly pointed it out to me last night, I never noticed how bad your wardrobe is. We'll head into muggle London after we're done at the bank, and remedy that."

Tonks had an appraising look on her face now, as she looked the young wizard up and down. She hadn't noticed his state of dress until now, either. Now that she was paying attention, one look was all it took to decide that he was badly in need of something that fit better. Merlin, but those clothes didn't suit him.

"Alright." The young wizard rolled his eyes at the scrutiny he was getting from the two adults as he rose from his chair and headed upstairs, Ginny close behind.

"Erm, Ginny? I'm fairly sure he can manage to put his robes on by himself. We really don't have time for you two to have a snog session, either." Remus said this teasingly.

The fiery young witch fixed him with a glare she had to have learned from her mother. "For your information, Remus Lupin, I'm going along. If you think that the two of you are going clothes shopping without _someone_ along with a bit of taste, you're _sorely_ mistaken." With that, she turned and sprinted up to her room.

The werewolf stood there a moment, a bemused look on his face. He murmured to Tonks "I guess _I've_ been told." Chuckling, he went outside to find Molly, to let her know of the change in plans.

Once he'd related what Ginny had said to him, Molly laughed. "That's our Ginny. She's definitely taken a proprietary stance with that young man." Her look turned a bit more serious. "What with the will and all, I do believe he'll be the better for her being along. I know this won't be an easy thing for either of you, Remus." The look she gave him was one of pure sympathy. "No matter my disagreements with Sirius, and Merlin knows they were many, he was family to you both. Maybe not blood, but family all the same. It's never easy to say goodbye to those you love." She gave him a brief but heartfelt hug, then turned him, pushing him towards the house. "Now, you'd best go collect them and get going."

"Yes, ma'am." Walking back inside, he marveled anew at the ability the Weasley women seemed to have in managing men.

By the time he rejoined Tonks, the teens were waiting patiently by the fireplace, hand in hand. A few moments later, the four of them were stepping off of the hearth at the Leaky Cauldron. With a quick hello to Tom, they were through the pub and in the alley out back. Remus tapped the bricks, and they were through.

It had been almost three years since Harry had been to Diagon Alley. Despite the fact that he had been a part of the magical community for nearly six years, the sense of wonder he felt here hadn't diminished at all. The first store he saw was Scrivener's Quills and Stationers, with Honeydukes across the street. That seemed to be something new. The young wizard didn't remember seeing that particular shop here on his last visit. As far as he knew, they were only in Hogsmeade. He looked down the length of the Alley, taking in the sight of all the stores arrayed before him. Maybe once they were done at the bank, there'd be a chance to look around a bit and see what changes had been made in the wizarding district since his last visit. Might be fun to visit the Twins shop, as well. Seeing the pristine white columns that all but announced Gringott's, the wizarding bank, he once more took Ginny's hand, and set off down the sidewalk.

Having some idea of what would be going on today at the bank, he hesitated a moment before setting foot over the threshhold. Ginny gave his hand a squeeze, letting him know she was there for him. When he turned to face her, she said "I'll be right next to you the whole time."

"Thanks, Gin. I really don't know what I'd do, if you weren't here." He leaned in for a quick kiss. A moment later, he felt Remus' hand on his shoulder.

"Come one, you two. I'm not looking forward to this either, but the sooner we get in there, the sooner we can have done with it."

The four of them made their way inside and to a free teller, Remus and Tonks at the fore. "Good morning. We need to see Graphawk, concerning the estate of Sirius Black."

The goblin disappeared behind a door a short distance away. He returned a moment later, motioning for them to follow him. They went toward the rear of the bank and through a bewildering maze of corridors, finally reaching a door marked 'Graphawk- Estate Management and Disbursement.' The goblin opened the door, indicating that they should each have a seat. Ginny and Remus took seats to either side of Harry, with Tonks on Remus' other side. A couple minutes later, a door opened in the opposite wall, and another, obviously older and more dignified goblin walked in.

He peered over the round spectacles perched on the end of his nose, and asked "The Black estate, right? " At their nods, he opened a cabinet behind the desk, and pulled out a pensieve, carefully setting it on the desktop.

"Now, Sirius Black was an unusual person, to say the least." He ignored the looks this obvious understatement produced. "Most wizards these days choose to record their wills on parchment, rather than sticking to the old ways. Strangely enough, with his aversion to anything connected with the traditions the rest of his family seem obsessed with upholding, he went with the old way of recording his will, in a pensieve. I believe that was due to the fact that it remains the one way to ensure accuracy, as well as reassuring anyone who witnessed it that it was indeed him who was dictating it. In his words"Any bloody thing can be forged these days." Now, are you two gentlemen Harry James Potter and Remus John Lupin? " With their nods, he asked "Might I inquire as to the identities of the young ladies? "

"Ginevra Weasley, sir. I'm Harry's girlfriend. I'm here for moral support."

"Nymphadora Tonks, as support for Remus. I guess I'm his, erm, girlfriend." She gave the older wizard a questioning look, and received a smile, as well as a tentative nod in response.

"Only if you want to be, love." When she nodded back at him, his smile grew wider for a moment.

Graphawk nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answers. "Alright then. You may as well get comfortable, while I prepare this for viewing."

A few moments later, all was ready. The goblin set the stone bowl a few inches from the edge of the desk, squarely in the middle. The four sitting there straightened a bit as he spoke to Harry and Remus. "If the two of you would touch your wands to the surface of the liquid, it will start." He paused a moment, before continuing. "One thing to keep in mind. If I'm not mistaken, Mr Potter, you haven't been present for a will reading of this kind before, correct? " After Harry shook his head, he gave a small nod. "I thought as much. With a pensieve will, there is a bit of the decedent's awareness. He will be aware of who is here and who is not. As such, don't be surprised when he directs comments to you. If it helps, think of it like the portraits you're already familiar with. I'll leave you to it. I'll be back when it's finished, with the papers." The goblin left through the rear door.

A look of reluctance was traded between the two men, followed by one of resolve. They leaned forward at the same time and touched the tips of their wands to the silvery liquid. They sat back and a moment later, the figure of Sirius Black rose from the liquid, holding a piece of parchment.

_"I, Sirius Orion Black, being of sound mind and body (hush, Nymphadora and Remus. I know what you're thinking, and don't even consider saying it.), hereby dictate my Last Will and Testament. At the advice of my solicitor, one Jonathan Edwards, Esq, I have submitted myself to testing by veritaserum, thereby proving that I am, indeed, who I say I am, and not under the influence of the _imperius_ curse, or any other type of duress."_

He then crumpled the piece of parchment and tossed it away. His face took on the lopsided grin they were familiar with, as he continued.

_"Alright then. Now that's out of the way, let's get to it. Before I get to the fun stuff, I feel that I need to pass along a message or three. _

_Harry, if I never said this to you, and to my shame I don't remember having done so yet, please don't doubt that I love you as if you were my own son. I've never been very good at this sort of thing, and for that, I'm sorry. I wish I'd had the chance to watch you grow up. If I hadn't lost control of my temper and gone after Wormtail, I could have. That is one of the two great regrets in my life. The other one, of course, was ever trusting that little rat-faced bas...erm...sorry about that. Anyway. If I had never made those two choices, things would have been much different. As it is, though, 'what-ifs' never change anything, and are a waste of time and effort._

_This brings me to my next point. Obviously, if you're seeing this, it means I'm gone, dead, kaput, no more among the living. Hopefully, I'll have gone down fighting, probably alongside you and Remus, and with any luck, I'll have taken Wormy and my nasty cousin Bella along for the ride. However, no matter how I go out, whether in battle or slipping on the soap in the shower, you are not to blame yourself, in any way, shape, or form. If, in the unlikely event you did anything that, even in the tiniest way, contributed to my demise, then I hereby grant you total and unconditional absolution. I swear, if Remmie has to have the words '_It's not my fault_' tattooed to the inside of your eyelids, then it'll be done. Got that"_

During this speech, Ginny had wrapped her arm around the waist of her boyfriend, reminding him she was there for him. Tears running from the corners of his eyes, he nodded. Seeing this, the figure turned to Remus.

_"Remus, the things I said to Harry apply to you, as well. You are in no way, shape or form, to consider yourself to blame for my departure from this world. The same absolution applies to you as well. I know that you, my brother, have the very same tendency to blame yourself for every wrong done on the earth, as Harry does, and I want you to stop it. Yes, I called you my brother. That's how I've seen you, ever since we first met. I need you to do something for me. As Harry's godfather, I ask you to take that role for me, and watch over Harry, as much as he'll allow. We both know that, as James and Lils' son, he has more stubborness in him than anybody could reasonably imagine. Far from being a bad thing, I think it'll help him. It can be a pain in the arse at times, but it'll see him through. Do that for me, would you? Remember, I can still prank you, when you get here." The last was said with his trademark grin._

The last of the Marauders nodded, as he silently resolved again that he would do whatever it took to get Harry through what he knew to be coming. Seeing this, the small figure looked between the two women seated there.

_"Ginny, Nymphadora (I know you hate to be addressed that way dear cousin, but I can get away with it now, if at no other time), please keep an eye on these two guys for me, as only you can. They'll need all the help they can get, in order to make it through the times ahead. Yes, I know all about the prophecy, and if Dumbledore hasn't told Harry about it yet, then make sure he does. I'll not have my godson treated like a mushroom. By the way, even if you already know the meaning of that expression, be sure to ask Albus about it. The only other remaining regret I have is that I won't be able to see the look on his face, as he attempts to explain it. Have no doubts about it, the old fraud will know exactly what I mean."_

With this last, his eyes had taken on a gleam that reminded Remus of when the four of them used to plan their latest prank, anticipating the reactions of whomever would be the subject of the prank. All four of the people present chuckled, as they saw the look on his face.

_"Now then. Time to get on to the fun stuff. Division of assets. Distribution of the booty. Giving of the goods. Ok, ok. I see you're getting a bit impatient, so I'll just get to it. _

_"The property in London, currently under a fidelius charm, is hereby bequeathed to the joint ownership of Harry James Potter and Remus John Lupin, with the proviso that the organization currently using it as a headquarters be allowed continued tenancy, until such time as the situation has changed so that the need for it no longer exists. The contents of the house, such as the library, any personal effects, artwork, etc, are to be divided as these two gentlemen see fit._

_"Black Manor, in the north of Scotland, is to be cleared of all dark artefacts, those artefacts destroyed, anything else salvagable divided between Mssrs Lupin and Potter, and the property to be raized to the ground. On that spot, will be built a wizarding orphanage, to ensure that any child of magical heritage, as well as any who show any talent or ability for magic, will be raised in as caring and loving an atmosphere as possible. We will not allow other children to endure the sort of childhood my godson had to, any longer. To that end, I leave a sum of five million galleons for construction and support costs. How this will be run, I leave to those better equipped for it. However, I ask that it be co-administered by Mssrs Lupin and Potter._

_"The Black family jewels are hereby bequeathed to Harry James Potter, to do with as he pleases. I do recommend having Bill Weasley, or some other qualified curse breaker, inspect them before you take posession. Some of them may be Dark Arts artefacts, but as I've never taken the time to go through them, I'm not sure. _

_"The remainder of the cash in my vault is to be divided between these two gentlemen as well. The only requests I have as to how this money is to be used are as follows: 1) Remus, you are to get a new wardrobe. I don't care if Tonks has to hogtie you and drag you to every menswear store in the UK to do it, but you will get new robes, as well as something suitable to go under them. You have a bit of money now, so look the part, dammit. 2) Harry, please make sure you replace the Gryffindor house brooms with something newer and faster. The brooms they currently have may be distributed to the other house teams or given to those students in Gryffindor who can't afford their own, at your discretion. Also, make sure that Ron and Ginny have new books, robes, and whatever supplies they will need for the next couple of years. Ginny, I know you'll probably object to this, but it's the only kind of help I can foresee Molly allowing me to give. For everything your family has done for Harry over the years, this is the least I can do._

_"If these conditions are not met, the money will be divided between the Malfoys and the remaining members of the Black family. As none of us wants to see this happen, that should give you the needed incentive to ensure that my wishes are granted. _

_"Also related to this, I relinquish all control of the Potter family vault to Harry James Potter, in addition to the school expense vault he currently has the use of. All of the jewels and other items from my family vault, as well as the cash, are to be placed inside the Potter vault, and the Black vault to be sold. The proceeds from the sale of said vault will be given to Remus John Lupin. _

_"Alright then. That takes care of all the goodies. All that's left is to say goodbye. I'll see you on the other side, hopefully not for a very long time."_

As the words echoed from the walls, Sirius' image sank back into the pensieve. Graphawk reentered now, with a folder in his hand and set it on the desk. "I just need signatures on a few papers here. They just confirm the transfer of assetts, as well as giving the order for the instructions for Mr Black's wishes for Black Manor." He spread the papers out and produced a quill, showing Harry and Remus where to sign. Once they were done, he continued. "Just a couple of questions before we finish. First of all, do you have a name for the orphanage or the foundation that will be established to support it? "

Harry asked "Does that need to be decided now? "

Graphawk shook his head. "No. It will take some time for a complete inventory, as well as finding an appropriate construction firm. The sooner you can come up with something, though, the sooner planning can start, and announcements made."

"Alright. What else did you need to ask? "

"Would you like to take a look at your Family vault, now? "

"I wondered about that, actually. What did he mean by family vault? I thought there was just the one I've been using."

The goblin looked surprised at this. "That piddly thing? Did you really think that a family as old as the Potters would only have a couple hundred thousand galleons? Of course not." He turned to Remus, now, eyebrows raised. "You can't tell me that he has no knowledge of his family beyond his parents? "

Lupin had a thoughtful expression on his face now, as he looked at Harry. "To tell the truth, I'd never thought about it. I'd rather assumed that Albus would have told him. Merlin knows that Petunia wouldn't have. She barely acknowledges that she had a sister, much less who Lily was married to. That'll be remedied in short order, I'll tell you that, now."

The women present were in shock at the thought that Harry knew nothing about his family. Most people in the wizarding world knew of them and their long history. The tales of some of his ancestors were almost as well known as his own story was. Ginny had heard most of them, growing up. Tonks had actually studied some of those stories, when she was in school. Of course, with Binns as history professor, it was easy to see how even those stories could be missed. After all, when you sleep through a class, it's a bit difficult to take notes. This was something they would have to take care of, as soon as they had a chance.

Harry finally responded to the question he'd been asked. "Dunno if we have time for more than a quick look, though I'd like to see what's down there."

The goblin manager said "I'll get a guide to take you down there." Once that was arranged, Graphawk asked "Was there anything else you require today? " When it was clear there wasn't anything else they needed for the moment. he led them back to the main floor of the bank. He turned back to them, a contemplative look on his face. "If anything else comes up, be sure to let me know." With that, he disappeared through the door again.

A short time later, both couples were walking through Diagon Alley, slightly dazed looks on their faces. Ginny had always known that Harry was fairly well off, especially compared to her family, who had always seemed to scrimp a bit more than most for things like school supplies and brooms.

Nothing could have prepared the fiery young witch for what had been revealed when the doors to his family vault had swung wide. Quite apart from the fact that it was the longest ride she'd ever taken in the carts the goblins used, the vault itself was huge, easily the size of the Great Hall at Hogwarts.. The entire central part of it was taken up with stacks and stacks of golden galleons, silver sickels, and bronze knuts. The stacks nearer the far wall seemed to reach all the way up to the ceiling. She had no idea how much money was there, but was quite sure there was more than every member of her family combined would see in their entire lifetime. Along one wall were scenic paintings, portraits, other art objects, and more furniture than she could imagine any house needing. On the other wall was a virtual armory. There were suits of armor, edged weapons of almost every type, crossbows, maces, and quite a few things that were unrecognizable to her. Nearer the door were three separate broom racks, holding what seemed to be vintage examples of all of the popular styles of brooms from about twenty years ago. The only thing Remus had said the whole time they had been in there was when he was looking at the brooms.

His eyes had taken on a very wistful look, and he'd murmured "I wondered where those had gone."

Ginny and Tonks had traded a look that very definitely said "We need to find out more about that."

Harry had grabbed a cash bag from next to the door on the way in, and after a very brief look around, filled it up and placed a lightening charm on it to make it easier to carry. He'd then done the same with a second. When he got a questioning look from Ginny, he explained "Need to get some money converted to pounds, if we're going clothes shopping." She'd nodded then, her curiosity satisfied for the moment.

As they were on the way to the doors to leave, after Harry exchanged some currency, Tonks ran into Bill. Quite literally, in fact. As she turned to the entranceway, she collided with him, sending him sprawling. Harry gave him a hand up and asked "Going out to lunch, Bill? "

The oldest of the Weasley sons shook his head. "No. I need to get back to my flat. Fleur is coming over tonight around six, and I want to make sure everything is ready. She and Gabrielle are going to be staying with me."

"Gabrielle? Oh, her sister, right." When Bill confirmed this, Harry asked "Are they coming for a holiday? "

"No, they'll be staying with me for a while. Their father's in hospital with a broken back. Some sort of accident at work, I gather. Their mum will basically be staying in his room, as she doesn't really trust the nurses." With a rueful expression, he continued. "Ironic, eh? A Veela, jealous."

All of them had a chuckle at this. Ginny asked the question that all four wondered about. "Does Mum know that Fleur will be living with you? "

"Well, we've been engaged for almost six months now, so it wasn't any surprise to her. In fact, she volunteered to watch Gabby while we're both at work. She'll be around the Burrow most days this summer, starting tomorrow. Do me a favor and keep an eye on her, would you? From what Fleur says, she's likely to be a bit depressed, what with being away from home and worrying over their dad."

Harry and Ginny both agreed to this, and said they would pass along the request to Ron and Hermione as well. Bill made his farewells and left.

The first place they stopped after leaving the bank was Madame Malkins.

Once they were in the door, it was only a moment before the happy face of the proprietress was upon them. "Two for Hogwarts, then? "

Harry replied with "Yes. Four set of regular school robes apiece for the two of us, two work robes apiece, and two dress robes." Ginny started to object, only to be silenced by Harry. "Sirius' wishes, remember? " She reluctantly agreed and told Madame Malkin"Lead the way." She detailed one of her assistants to help Harry, and took Ginny herself to another area of the shop. At the same time, he could hear Tonks dragging Remus over to look at the robes on display, taking her cousin's words to heart. She threatened him with a binding spell if he didn't at least buy a couple robes before they left. It looked to be a long day for the last surviving Marauder. The thought made Harry chuckle a bit.

The assistant, a pretty young girl introduced herself to Harry with a shy smile. "Hi, I'm Crystal. I'll take care of getting you fitted for your new robes today. Please step up onto the stool over here."

Once the measuring process was started, the young wizard was extremely glad that the tape-measure was enchanted, especialy when it came time to check the inseam. She seemed a bit disappointed that she wouldn't be able to check it herself, from the look on her face. The expression on her face as she watched it do it's job looked to be one of envy. That made Harry a bit nervous, actually. He looked around, making sure Ginny wasn't watching this. He wasn't quite sure whether she would be ready to hex the girl senseless at the look on her face, or ready to take the mickey out of him for it. Either way, it wouldn't be good. Luckily, she was busy on the other side of the store, picking out materials for her dress robes.

A few moments later, Crystal said "All done. Now, how about your dress robes? " She showed him an assortment of materials in colors. He finally chose one in black silk with deep purple trim, and one in a deep emerald linen with silver designs along the borders. To go with them, he chose matching cloaks. The black one had a clasp in the shape of a griffin in pewter, and the forest green one had it's clasp in the shape of a Hungarian Horntail dragon, done in gold.

That done, he caught up to Ginny, just in time to see Madame Malkin walk away, notepad in hand. When she returned a few moments later, he asked her for a copy of both his and Ginny's measurements, explaining that it would save time that afternoon, as they had a lot of shopping to do in muggle stores. She nodded and hurried off to get that for him.

A moment or two later, she was back with two slips of paper. "Here you go. Your robes and cloaks should be ready for you in a day or two." By that time, Remus and Tonks were finished as well. The professor had a bag with two everyday robes in it, and a new set that he was wearing. When compared to what he'd been wearing just a little while earlier, it was a vast improvement.

Before going out through the Leaky Cauldron, they decided it was time for a stop at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Harry hadn't yet seen the fruits of his investment, aside from the occasional product being tested on Ron. He remembered the incident the day he'd come to the Burrow, when Ron had tried one of their Cockroach Clusters. Luckily for the Twins, he hadn't turned into a cockroach per se, but the antenna and twitching mandibles had been quite enough on their own. He grinned at the memory, wondering what they would come up with next. When they saw the store, he knew it _had_ to be the right one, even before he saw the glowing, luridly colored sign. What other store would have flashing cockroaches, bright green canaries, and fireworks flying in every direction? They walked in the door expecting to hear a bell tinkling. They should have known better. Instead, as the door closed, they heard the unmistakable, very loud, very wet, sound of somebody breaking wind. Luckily, the experience was completely auditory in nature. In other words, there was no smell to go with it. If there had, Harry imagined it would have been every bit as disgusting as the sound was.

Two heads topped with ginger hair popped around the frame of the doorway that apparently led to the back room, after their arrival was announced in that unique fashion.

"Why, George, I do believe that"

"Our financial backer"

"Has arrived"

"For a visit."

Harry shook his head at them. "Would you two cut that out? You're creeping me out here."

Remus merely looked amused. "If you think these two are bad, you should have heard your dad and Sirius, by the end of our first year. They'd do it from across the common room. Used to drive Lily right round the twist."

"We know that we"

"Could never"

"_Hope_ to compare"

"To the"

"Legendary"

"Marauders."

The last word was said in stereo, prompting Remus to laugh and clap lightly. "Compare to us? Maybe not." He waggled his hand in a _so-so_ gesture. "With a few more years practice, though, you might have been able to run _with_ us. I still say it's a pity Bill missed us at school by a couple years. No telling what we might've got to." He turned to Harry and Ginny. "Why don't you two take a look around. I know Harry hasn't been here before. I just need to talk to the Twins here for a few minutes. Order Business."

The teens reckoned that they'd probably get the gist of it later, from one source or another. Keeping this in mind, they humored Remus for a bit, until he was ready to go. Looking around, they took in the range of all of the new things the Twins had developed, as well as the old stand-bys they remembered from the previous term. There was a whole range of Skiving Snackboxes, the Canary Cremes, Invisivble Hats, even a Portable Swamp. The fireworks were all in evidence as well. Both of them particularly relished the mental image of both Umbridge and Filch trying to find ways to deal with Catherine Wheels that chased them down corridors, as well as all the other myriad ways the Twins had come up with of harassing those staff members. Tucked away into a corner of the shop, Harry found a box marked 'Busty Berries'. A grin came up on his face at this discovery.

Ginny saw this and scowled, crossing her arms. She was never very secure when it came to what she thought of her body, especially the area just below her shoulders, but a bit farther north than her navel. "I _do_ hope you're not going to try to get _me_ to eat one of those, Mr Potter."

As they idea genuinely hadn't crossed his mind, Harry was taken aback. "Of course not. If all I was interested was breasts, I could've gone after Lavender 'Inflatable' Brown." Now it was his turn to be offended, and glared back at her. "I didn't realize you thought I was that shallow. I thought your opinion of me was a bit higher that that."

She relented now, dropping her scowl. Her arms relaxed, going back to her side. Pink came up on her cheeks as she quietly said "I'm sorry Harry. I should know better than that. It's just that I'm not erm...well...all that well...endowed...on top, if you've never noticed." At this, she turned even pinker, starting to look like one of the jumpers her mum had made for her a few years back.

Harry stepped in closer now and, in a low voice, said "Gin, the appeal you have for me is _not_ solely physical. Though you do have a _very_ cute little bum." This was said in an even lower voice, but with a grin all the same. He tilted her chin up, and kissed her briefly.

When the kiss was finished, she opened her eyes and got a slightly confused look. "Okay, but what was the smile for about the Berries? "

His eyes got a very mischievous look to them as he replied "Just a moment, and all will be answered." He turned his head and yelled "Oi! George! "

An answer was heard from the counter. "Yes, partner? "

"The Busty Berries. Will they work on either gender, and how long does it last? "

The answer was quick in coming. "Yes, and about an hour. Of course, the more you give somebody, the longer they'll last."

"Okay, thanks."

When Harry turned back to his girlfriend, she was wearing an almost evil grin, very similar to the one on his face. Her question was one word. "Malfoy? "

He nodded, and she aided him in filling a box with the Berries. They continued to roam the shop, finding other products ideal for wreaking mayhem on their favorite ferret, as well as a few other choice candidates. Their other favorite was a derivative of the Canary Creme, with a bit of a twist. This one would turn you into the animal you hated most. Definite possibilities in that.

The two looked over at Remus and the Twins and could see that, whatever the business had been, it seemed to be concluding. It was obvious that now it was just small talk, something to pass the time. Harry heard a snatch of it as they approached.

"You two actually turned him _pink?_"

"Yes. Pink is"

"Actually quite the"

"Fetching color"

"For old Argus."

"Bit of a stick in the mud, he is."

"Didn't seem to enjoy it very much at all."

Remus broke down in gales of laughter at hearing this. Harry remembered the incident back in his third year, and it never failed to make him laugh.

Ginny asked"Filch? In _pink?_ Where in Merlin's name was _I?"_

"Dunno, Gin-Gin. Though it wasn't visible for long. As soon as he'd realized what happened, he hid in his office until it passed. How long did it take, Gred? "

"I'm not sure, Forge. Two, maybe three weeks, I think."

As they explained the machinations they'd gone through to turn Filch, the caretaker (janitor, to say it less politely) at Hogwarts, a shocking shade of pink, all six, including Tonks, were rolling on the floor laughing.

Later, as they were all getting ready to go, the Twins pulled Harry aside for a moment. "We need to speak with our investor. We'll give him back to you in a bit." They dragged him into the back room, out of view of the others.

George cast a quick silencing charm. "Harry, you know that her birthday's coming up soon, right? "

He nodded. "I know it's soon, but she won't tell me the date. Apparently, she threatened Ron, if he let it spill."

The Twins traded a look, then Fred responded. "It's August eleventh. Just thought you might want to know. With all the work she put into your party, not to mention your present..."

George shot his brother a look. "Shut it. Now! "

Harry interrupted. "Guys, she didn't give me a gift. I wasn't expecting anything, so it's not..."

"Harry, all we'll tell you is that it's something she's been working on for a while. You know she's good at Charms, right? " At their friend's nod, he continued. "Let's just say it has to do with that."

"Why didn't she say anything? " The raven-haired wizard was confused by this. She hadn't mentioned a thing about a gift, and he really wasn't bothered by it.

"She didn't want to say anything, in case it didn't work."

"Just do us a favor, mate. Don't mention any of this to her."

"No kidding, Harry. No way at all we want _her_ mad at _us_." Fred shuddered.

George concurred. "Scary one, she is, when she's got her temper up."

"Alright, guys. No problem with that. Not a word."

The three of them went back out to the front, so Harry could rejoin the rest. "Ready to go, all? "

They said their goodbyes, and were at Quality Quidditch Supplies a few minutes later. Harry took a look at the available brooms, and ended up picking out the newest models of the Nimbus line, ordering three complete sets of brooms. They weren't quite as expensive as the Firebolt's, or as fast, but they were quicker than the present school brooms, and quite sturdy. Barring any encounter's with Whomping Willows, that is. There were three each of the Seeker editions and Keeper Editions, nine each of the Chaser ones, and six of the Beater models. He said to have them delivered to Hogwarts a week ahead of when the new term was to start, and charged it to his Gringott's account. The store manager was a bit dubious, until he saw the charge plate glow a gentle blue, signifying that the bank had accepted the charge.

At the end, he had decided to add a Firebolt2 Seeker's Edition onto the bill for himself. He would still have the broom that Sirius had gotten him back in third year, but didn't want to take the chance that anything would happen to it. He remembered all too well, the fate that had befallen his Nimbus. As soon as Ginny was occupied in looking at the chaser gear, he pointed the Chaser Edition of the previous Firebolt out, and added it as well, instructing that it be delivered to the Burrow, and when it should arrive. Once all this was taken care of, he gathered the rest together and they headed out.

On their way through the Leaky Cauldron, they asked Tom to reserve them a private room, and left their robes there, as well as the purchases they had with them so far. Then it was time to head out to muggle London.

Harry had consulted with Hermione before they left about where they should do their shopping for clothes and the like, and she had said the best place for him would probably be Harrod's. The venerable institution would be, according to the brilliant young witch, the best place to get whatever he needed, whether it was clothes or anything else. That could come in quite handy.

Remus, having been in the place once or twice, led the rest to the menswear department in short order. As the quartet started looking around, an older man with thinning, graying, hair came up to them. He took one look at the various types of dress evident in the group, and it was apparent that he wasn't impressed. Harry was wearing some of Dudley's old hand-me-downs, Remus was wearing a sport coat that had obviously seen better days, and the less said about Tonks' clothes, the better. Both girls wore clothing that was better fitting and in better shape than the men, but neither was it obviously expensive, as this gentleman seemed to think would better grace his store.

His tone of voice made Professor Snape seem almost friendly and welcoming by comparison. "May I..._help_ you? " It was apparent that he thought that such a manner would intimidate the group into leaving. Little did he know how mistaken he was. Dead wrong, that is.

Ginny, sensitive as she was to how people could react to things like clothes that were obviously not new, felt her ire start to rise. Tonks saw this, and laid a hand on her arm. Getting the younger girl's attention, she pointed to Harry. Ginny's eyes widened in shock, as she saw the change come over him. It was all she could do, not to burst out laughing.

As the raven-haired young man walked up to the salesman, a change seemed to come over him. Rather than the hesitant, slightly shy, somewhat reticent boy they all knew, he seemed to take on a rather bored air. His lip curled in a supercilious way, as he cast a gimlet eye over the grey-haired man in front of him. His voice, though, completely belied his bedraggled appearance.

"Yes, actually." Almost unconsciously, one hand came out of the pocket of his trousers, holding a thick packet of hundred pound notes. "All of us require new wardrobes, and we would like some assistance with this." Again, almost unconsciously, the fingers on his other hand started riffling the corners of the notes, then he put it back in his pocket. "However, if you find you are unable to render us this assistance, we are quite willing to take our business elsewhere." The salesman's eyes had gone wide, his attention riveted on the bills in the young man's hands. When it disappeared, he looked alarmed. Harry turned to his friends, and with a mischievous wink, said"Come. I'm sure we can find someplace more suitable." He started leading the group towards the door, until he heard a strangled yelp from behind him. Supressing a grin, he turned back to face the other man, cocking an eyebrow. "Something you wanted to say?"

Running a finger under the collar of his shirt, the suddenly flop-sweating man replied. "Sir, I would be honored to assist all of you. Please, if you would come this way, we can get started."

Harry seemed to consider it, then nodded. "Very well." They followed the older man back into the menswear department, to start assembling wardrobes for the two men. Ginny and Tonks wouldn't budge from their sides until everything was picked out, tried on, then bundled for the registers. Once it was all deposited in one place, they took the Grand Egyptian Escalator to the next floor for ladies fashions. This time, it was Harry and Remus' turn to provide input while the ladies tried everything on. At least, it very nearly seemed like everything to the two wizards. By the time they'd finished, each of the four had a very complete wardrobe, from the skin out. Before leaving, they called for a car to take them back to Charing Cross Road. As they got out with their parcels, Remus paid the driver, and Tonks unobtrusively shrunk them all. The group walked in through the door of the Leaky Cauldron and each took a seat in the private room. Once they'd ordered, and Tom had left, Remus cast a quick silencing spell around the room. The other three looked at Harry.

Ginny led off. "Alright, you. Where in the bloody hell did that whole upper-crust act come from? "

Harry shrugged, and grinned at her. "I just didn't like his attitude. There's an old expression that says, 'The best defense is a good offense.' Believe me, if there's one thing that I've learned in handling that type of people, it's that money will impress them, if nothing else does."

Remus chuckled. "I think you handled that beautifully, Harry, but I have to say that I was surprised at your acting ability. Didn't know you had it in you."

The young wizard's expression grew darker as he replied. "Acting ability I have in spades, Moony. Had to really, growing up in that house. 'Yes, Uncle Vernon, no Uncle Vernon, of course, Aunt Petunia. Of _course_ I'm grateful for _all_ you _do_, Aunt Petunia.' Never would've made it past eleven otherwise, would I? "

Ginny reached over to grasp his hand then, squeezing to show her support. The look in those emerald eyes cleared as he looked back at her.

"Thanks, love."

She leaned over and gave him a soft quick kiss, saying "You're very welcome, Mr Potter. Always."

Remus was struck once more by how much this couple reminded him of another he'd known, long ago. The difference was that the love that surrounded these two was even more evident than what his friends had shared. Now that they'd found each other, there was no way they'd ever let each other go, unlike that incident just after the Marauders had graduated. Ah, well, that was water under the bridge and all that. James and Lily had been a great couple, one of the best. He'd never thought he'd ever see two other people so much in love as they were. Strangely enough, for being the only one of the four to never have a serious girlfriend, Sirius had spotted this one coming, and had told Remus as much. The werewolf had scoffed, saying no love could ever match Prongs and his Lily-Flower, as he'd called her. He happily admitted to himself now that he'd been wrong, but wished Padfoot could be here to see this. He probably would've teased the living daylights out of his godson, but would've been proud as hell to see Harry so happy. Remus made a silent vow to himself then that no matter what happened, he would see that Harry and Ginny would have every chance his parents never had, to keep that happiness.

Tonks saw the expression on her boyfriend's face and knew he was thinking of the friends he'd lost, and lay her hand on his shoulder. She wanted him to know that she was here for him. The look in his eyes as he turned to her told her the message was recieved and gratefully accepted.

Tom brought their orders in, and a little while later, they headed back to the Burrow, so Remus could show Harry how to use the pensieve he'd gotten for his birthday.

**A/N:** To all of you who have waited so patiently for an update, we apologize profusely, for making you wait. Both of us had a bit of writer's block for this story, and we weren't quite sure where to take it next. Bill's been working on a couple other projects in the meantime, like posting his H/G fics on SIYE, a challenge fic for that site, and a couple other things he hasn't even told _me_ much about yet. What nerve! Hmph! I'll get him, though. hehehe

_:throws evil glare at hubby, mumbling nasty threats concerning bats emerging from alternate locations:_

_:hubby nervously edges away from beautiful, talented, smart, did I mention beautiful, authoress:_

Oh, quit kissing up, you git.

Anyway, the block seems to have broken now, and a new chapter _should_ be forthcoming fairly soon. Don't bet the ranch on it, though. Thanks again, for all of the kind words in your reviews of our humble efforts here. That kind of feedback is greatly appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5: Memory

**Disclosure:** Nope, still not ours. All of it still belongs to the illustrious, beautiful, and talented Ms Rowling. Anybody who says different has obviously been listening to the goats again.

Thanks to our wonderful beta, Rachael. Your suggestions helped a lot.

**Memory:**

When Remus Lupin disapparated a short way from the Burrow, he felt a bit ambivalent about the planned activities ahead of him. He looked forward to seeing Harry, as well as everyone else who would be around. Every day, he was more and more grateful that his surrogate godson had the support of the Weasley family. Where that young man would be without Ginny, Merlin only knew. He knew the shape his young charge had been in at the end of the last term, not to mention what Dursley had done to him. He doubted that anyone else would have had such an effect on the young wizard.

He was dreading, just a bit, seeing the memories of his departed friends. It would be good to see them as they were, so full of life and vitality and plans for the future. The part that would make the experience bittersweet was the knowledge that all those hopeful optimistic plans had never had the chance to come to fruition.

On the other hand, it would be fun to relive some of the pranks the Marauders had perpetrated, in school and after. Remus chuckled as he wondered how surprised Harry would be to see just how much Lily had participated in their escapades. Once she and James had finally gotten together, shortly after the start of their seventh year, she had started adding her own unique brand of intelligence and cunning to the mix, leading to some of the most memorable pranks the school had yet seen. With Lily's blend of intelligence, bravery, cunning, and loyalty, it was no wonder the Sorting Hat had just about had a fit in trying to place her.

With the friends Harry had, Lupin wondered how long it would take this group to take up the mantle of the Marauders. Harry was the only heir to the original group, and Ron and Ginny were related to two who had done their best to continue that the legacy of Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, and yes, even Wormtail, would continue. Fred and George were highly prolific pranksters, and some of the things they had come up with were truly ingenious. The extendable ears alone were something that Moony and the rest would've given their eye-teeth for. With the knack these four had already demonstrated for finding ways of getting into and out of trouble, and the things the Twins were inventing daily, he was actually looking forward to the coming term, and being back at the school. It should be interesting, to say the least.

When he entered the house, it was to an unexpected scene. Harry and Ginny were seated next to each other on the sofa, with a small blond girl sitting on Harry's lap. She looked to be no older than ten, and possibly a bit younger. She was an adorable little thing, with platinum blond ringlets, fair skin, and amazingly clear blue eyes. She also had quite possibly the cutest laugh Moony had ever heard. The reason he knew this right away was because, as he entered, the two teens were tickling the living daylights out of her. It was the kind of laugh that made anybody who heard it want to know the joke, so they could laugh with her. Looking at Harry, Remus could see that his godson was not unaffected by this. In fact, he probably looked happier than he'd ever seen him yet. He was amazed and gratified to see this. He couldn't help but wonder what the scene might be in ten or fifteen years, after the war was over and this young man had a chance at a family of his own. It was a scene to remember, one to cast a _patronus_ with.

After a moment, he shook himself from this reverie and walked into the room. Still unnoticed at the moment, he took a seat in one of the armchairs across from where they sat, just watching. When things calmed down a bit a few moments later, the little girl curled up in Harry's lap, Remus had to ask.

"So, Harry, who is the charming little lady on your lap, and why isn't Ginny jealous of her? I daresay she was a bit more possessive than this at your birthday party, if I'm not mistaken."

The little girl looked up at him and replied, "I'm Gabrielle. Who are you?"

"My name is Remus. I'm Harry's guardian. You're Fleur's sister?" Now that he'd heard the name, as well as the accent the conclusion was a bit obvious.

"Oui, monsieur Remus." She cocked her head to one side, seeming to consider something. "You are a werewolf, no?"

The normally unflappable man was taken aback, not knowing quite what to say for a moment. From the looks on Harry and Ginny's faces, they were as surprised as he was. Finally, he simply said, "Well, yes. How'd you know?"

The girl climbed down from Harry's lap, coming over to Lupin. She perched herself on Remus' knee and looked directly at him, her brilliant blue eyes boring into his paler blue ones. The expression she wore was frankly appraising, almost as if she was taking an inventory. After a moment or two, her gaze relaxed and she smiled at him brightly. He knew then that he would do anything he had to, for her to smile like that at him again. She was a very captivating little girl, and inspired protective feelings in him that nobody else had, apart from Harry. He knew that the wolf in him would let no harm come to this waif.

"My Veela blood tells me this. That you are close to 'Arry tells me that you are a good person. I just know that 'e could not be friends with anybody who was truly dark." Her young voice held such absolute conviction that, even had the old marauder not already been firmly on Harry's side, he would have changed, just to prove her right. "'Arry considers you family. As I feel the same for 'im, I could do no less, _non_?" Having said this, she wrapped her arms around him, giving him a hug that only someone a part of the Weasley family could rival, which he gave back as well as he could. To say that he was amazed was to vastly underestimate how gobsmacked he felt right now. In his recent history, only the people who lived in this home had accepted him so readily, werewolf or not. The only other one who had, since the Marauders, was Tonks. It would take a bit of getting used to.

With a fond look at Gabrielle, Ginny spoke up. "Now you see why I can't be jealous of her." She shook her head bemusedly. "She does that with everybody she meets. She just has this way of looking at you and knowing who she can trust." Wearing a mischievous grin, the petite redhead said, "She seems to know who Harry likes and trusts, and uses that as her measure. Personally, I think she just wants my boyfriend." Ginny giggled as she remembered something. "You should've seen her when she met Professor Dumbledore this morning. She just sat there with her arms crossed, glaring at him. She told him, "I remember you. You put me in that lake. I don't like you much." It was priceless. But the best part was when she asked if he was going to keep feeding him, what was it, Gaby?"

"_Merde du chimere."_

Harry was laughing as he said, "I don't think anybody has ever gotten the headmaster to snort tea the wrong way through his nose, before. Apparently, he has some knowledge of the french language."

Remus knew what she had said, too, and how much of an insult it truly was. He laughed along with the rest, noting that the young girl in question simply shrugged in a very Gallic way, a small smile on her face. When he looked back over at Harry, he noticed something he should have earlier. He raised an eyebrow at his surrogate godson.

"Harry, did you forget something when you got dressed this morning?"

The two on the sofa shared a look, and Ginny answered, ticking off items on her fingers. "Let me see...shirt, pants, socks, trainers, boxers (green silk, by the way, very nice). I think that's all of it. He even ran a brush fairly close to his hair. Something wrong?" She smiled at him innocently.

"Leaving aside the fact that I don't want to know how you happen to know that much about his boxers, where are the glasses? You know, black, round, with lenses that let him avoid walking into walls? Did you get contacts or something?"

"Well, this would actually fall more under the category of 'or something', Moony" This was said with a smirk that would've made Sirius proud.

"Out with it, pup. What's going on?"

Ginny finally took pity on him. "It was my birthday present to him. It's a combination of a potion and a charm. I found part of it in 'Most Potente Potions', and owled Professor Flitwick for the information on the charm. The spell was mentioned in the book, but not how to do it. The potion finished brewing this morning after Professor Dumbledore left. It took almost six weeks to brew, but it was worth it."

Watching as Harry pulled Ginny even closer, Remus could've been knocked over quite handily by a first year student with a bad cough at this point.

"Let me get this straight. With a potion and a charm, you fixed his vision. No more glasses?"

"That's right. No more glasses, no fresheners needed for either part of it. It's permanent."

Harry interrupted. "The funny part is that I didn't even think she'd gotten me a gift. I thought that the part she played in my rescue, not to mention the first birthday party I've ever had, was my gift." He smiled tenderly at the girl in his arms. "That, along with her love, was all the gift I needed."

Remus shook himself out of the daze he found himself in. A smile slowly crept across his face. "You know something? Padfoot was right, manky mutt that he was."

The happy couple across from him traded an amused look. "What do you mean, Moony? What was he right about?"

Still chuckling, the older wizard answered. "Well, two things, actually. Number one, he somehow knew the two of you would end up together.

"Second, the comparisons between you two and James and Lily _are_ uncanny."

At the quizzical looks he received from the teens' faces, he continued.

"First, there's the physical resemblance. With the exception of eye color, you two are near ringers for the two of them. Ginny, your eye color is much deeper than James'. His were hazel, where yours are more the color of chocolate. Harry, your mother's eyes were closer to an aquamarine than a true emerald, like yours. They were green, but looked almost blue in the right conditions. Lily was maybe an inch or so taller than Ginny, and James was about your height, Harry. He actually stayed skinny longer than you have. You've started filling out earlier than he did. I don't know if you'll reach his height, but that doesn't much matter, really. You're the right height for Ginny, and that's what counts." This was said with a smile, as he saw the slight blush on both of their faces.

"The other comparison I've heard made is in ability and power. Be prepared, as more and more people will notice it, and comment on it. Your professors will notice it more than anyone else, as both of them were very bright and good in their classes.

"Ginny, the charm you used on Harry to prepare him for the eye-correction potion has only been used once, that I know of, in the three hundred years or so since it was devised. Lily did that for James, shortly after they got married. She was one of the most gifted Charms students Flitwick has ever had. By the time she did that for James, she was already working as an Unspeakable. She was never able to say what she did there, but I do know that it had something to do with devising new charms, especially those related to defense and home protection.

"Harry, I've never had the chance to assess your abilities in Transfiguration, but I believe you got an O for it on your OWLs, right?" Receiving a nod in response, he went on. "By the time we finished seventh year, James was acting as an assistant professor for McGonagall in that class. She had a few personal matters to attend to that couldn't be set aside, and there was nothing left to teach him on that subject anymore, at any rate. He was actually the one who worked out everything concerning the animagus transformation, and taught it to Sirius and Peter. _That's_ the part that took three years. He'd worked it all out within two months of learning my secret.

"I happen to know that your DADA scores were the highest this century. Before you, the record was held by James. If I'm not mistaken, you beat his mark by a good twenty-five points, even before the bonus you earned with your _patronus._

"I know that you haven't been given the best picture of your dad, but one very important thing to remember is that you only saw one memory of him, and that was from the perspective of somebody who hated him more than anything else. To be quite honest, I don't think even Voldemort hated your father as much as Severus still does. To Voldemort, your dad was one more obstacle to be overcome."

"James and Severus, from the time they first met on Platform 9 ¾, couldn't stand each other. For generations, the Snapes have been deeply entrenched in the Dark Arts. One of the top lieutenants for Grindelwald was a Snape, highly honored by his family for it. Severus was raised in that kind of atmosphere, one where muggles and half-bloods were viewed as something less than human. The first sight James ever had of Severus was him tormenting a smaller child just before getting on the Express. James 'accidentally' let his trunk ram into Severus as he went by, giving the child a chance to get away. With the fact that adults were all around, and that James sounded quite sincere when he apologized for his 'slip', there was nothing Severus could do but accept and get on the train. After that, well, it just escalated. To this day, he still has a lot of those old pure-blood attitudes, though he's much more careful about voicing them these days. I don't think I've heard him say the word 'mudblood' since fifth year, but the sentiment is always there." He smirked a bit. "Actually, the fact that he doesn't use the word anymore is all down to your dad. He said it once more after the memory you saw, just as we were about to get on the train to go home. He very loudly used the word to describe Lily, and James lost all reason. It was the only time I ever had to step in. By the time he'd finally cooled down, he'd decided to just prank Severus, rather than physically hurt him. The whole ride home, a rather rude inflatable sheep bobbed around, following Snape wherever he went. It was actually quite a brilliant charm. The best part was that every time he tried to banish it, it multiplied. By the time he'd reached the car he shared with Bellatrix and Narcissa, there were eight of them following in his wake. Then Rodolphus LeStrange saw them and tried the same thing. By the time we reached King's Cross, there was quite the little flock following along, and the more there were, the ruder their sayings got. At the end there, some of those sheep were using language that even had _Sirius_ blushing."

By the time he finished telling the story, none of them could talk, for all the laughing they were doing at the mental image this gave them. After a few minutes, he was able to continue.

"The point I'm trying to make, Harry, is that what went on between your dad and Snape was something quite different from the way he was with anybody else. Snape had also made a lot of enemies besides James, in every house, including his own. James was a bit of a prat when it came to Lily, but most boys are at that age, especially when they're trying their best to win the girl's heart. Whatever happened between Severus Snape and James Potter, the fact remains that your parents fell in love shortly after the beginning of our seventh year, married as soon as they were out of school, and they would've had a fairy-tale ending, if not for Voldemort. Please don't doubt that they loved each other, and you, more than life itself."

Remus knew that there was one way to prove to Harry, once and for all, that was he was saying was truth.

"Do me a favor, would you? Go upstairs and get your pensieve for me, along with the canister with your parents' initials on it, and bring them down."

Harry nodded and headed upstairs. Remus saw the love in Ginny's eyes, as she watched Harry. He was a bit stunned, as he'd never thought he'd see a couple as much in love as James and Lily.

He was still marveling over this when Harry came back into the room, levitating the carved stone basin in front of him, while carefully carrying the metal canister. Remus took the pensieve and set it carefully down on the low table in front of the sofa, and slowly decanted the precious contents of the cylinder into it. Once he had it ready, he turned to Harry.

"From what Albus has said, you know how to use one of these?" At the answering nod, he stepped back. "Knowing your parents, I have a pretty good idea which ones will come up first. I'll stay out here and keep Gabrielle company, if you want to look at it alone. I might have a look later, if you don't mind."

Harry shot his former professor a grateful look. "I don't mind at all, Remus. Thank you." He turned to Ginny, a slightly shy look on his face. "Gin, would you mind going in with me? I don't know if I can do this alone."

"Of course, Harry. I'd love to see them. I'm here for you. Don't you forget it."

He kissed her tenderly but briefly. "Thank you."

Ginny laced her fingers into his, further lending him support. The young wizard took out his wand and touched it to the surface of the silvery liquid, giving it a small stir. The two of them leaned over, their faces touching the surface.

_There was a brief falling sensation, then they were in the Gryffindor common room._

_A dark-haired young man that Harry knew to be his father stood nervously in front of the fireplace in the common room. He kept casting worried looks at the portrait hole. Harry didn't know what he was looking so apprehensive about, but the feeling seemed to be contagious. The young observer was starting to feel the same way himself, a feeling only eased by the small hand tucked inside his. Soon though, James started to talk to himself, and the situation became clearer._

_You great idiot. What makes you think she'll accept? She's turned you down four years running, so far. Why would she break that kind of streak now?_

_She _has _to. She's the only one I've ever wanted. If I can't have her, I don't want anybody. I...I love her._

_Well, that explains why you're still a virgin at seventeen._

_What the teenage version of James Potter either didn't see or didn't pay any mind to was the fact that the common room was by no means empty. All the chairs around the room were taken by students studying, playing games, chatting each other up and all the other activities students normally do in a boarding school on a Friday night, when away from the adults. In addition to anything else they might have been doing, most in the room were also watching James. It would have been a good bet that nobody have ever seen him this worried, about anything._

_Of course, none were watching more obviously or with more enjoyment than the three seated on the sofa he'd now taken to pacing in front of. Sirius Black was laughing fit to burst, Peter Pettigrew looked vaguely worried, and Remus Lupin looked a bit bemused by the whole thing. Sirius had conjured a bag of popcorn a few minutes before, and was sharing it with his seated friends. This was high entertainment. After they'd watched him do a few laps of the carpet before the hearth, Remus spoke up._

"_Prongs, calm down. I think she's noticed the changes you've made over the past year. In fact, I know she has, now that I think of it."_

_Startled, James asked, "What do you mean?"_

"_She asked me a few days ago why you weren't hexing every third student in the corridors."_

"_Yeah? What'd you say?"_

_A mischievous gleam came to the werewolf's face, reminding_ _Harry that Remus truly was a Marauder. _

"_Oh, just that you had tapered back a bit. Now it's only every tenth, and only if they're in Slytherin."_

_James paled at this. "Moony! You didn't!"_

_At this point, all three of the boys on the sofa had lost all control, howling with laughter. The look on his face was really something to see. Remus obviously wished he'd thought to bring his camera. James quickly realized that he'd been had, and buried his face in his hands, muttering._

"_With friends like this..."_

_Sirius asked, "Who needs enemas?"_

_James seemed to be giving much thought to throttling his best friend, and it seemed to be a close decision indeed._

Harry had had trouble not laughing at his father's predicament, and finally gave into it, as he heard Ginny's giggle beside him. This scene was a marked contrast to what he'd seen in the other pensieve, a few months prior. This James Potter didn't show any of the spite or arrogance Snape had gone on and on about.

_As the three Gryffindors on the sofa sat amused at the expense of their friend and leader, the cause for his current anxiety came in from the corridor. Lily Evans walked into the room, looking curiously at the scene in front of the fireplace. She raised an eyebrow_ _at the three boys doing a very accurate impression of hyenas, and gave a small smile, shaking her head._

Harry gazed on in rapt amazement. Much had been made by Sirius and Remus about the resemblance between Lily Potter (nee Evans) and Ginny Weasley, and even Dumbledore had remarked on it earlier that morning. Until this moment, none of this had sunk in, not really. As she looked around the room, her gaze alighting on the group in the middle of things (as usual), Harry saw something in her eyes that made him realize what everybody had been talking about. There was something there, something he couldn't quite put a finger on.

_James had heard the portrait close, and turned to see who it was. He watched as she crossed from the portrait, her beautiful eyes sweeping the room, lingering a bit on the Marauders. It was obvious he wasn't sure what to make of the expression he saw on her face, but it seemed to give him hope. Just as she turned to the steps to the girls dorms_, _he spoke_.

"_Ev...erm, Lily?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Did you hear about the ball coming up?" _

"_Well, as the headmaster made the announcement at breakfast this morning, and attendance _was _mandatory, yes I did. I'd imagine everybody heard about it."_

"_Oh, yes, well...I was wondering if...the thing is...has anybody asked you yet?"_

"_Yes, actually."_

"_Oh, okay then. Sorry." He started to turn away, looking quite despondent. "I hope you have fun."_

"_I haven't accepted yet. There was someone else I was hoping would ask."_

_He seemed to be getting up the courage for what should come next. After four years of rejection, he was sure he knew what the answer would be. Finally, he looked up from his shoes and asked her._

"_Lily, would you go to the Yule Ball with me?"_

"_Why, yes. That sounds lovely."_

_He nodded and turned again, seemingly on automatic. "I didn't think so." He took a step, then stopped abruptly. He turned his head to look at Remus, with the most hopeful look on his face anybody had ever thought to see, as her answer seemed to dawn on him._

_In a low voice, he asked, "Moony? Did she just say yes?"_

_Remus nodded and replied, "Yes she did, Prongs."_

_Slowly, as if underwater, James turned back to Lily. With an expression that said that he was almost afraid to hope, he asked, "Is he right? Did you really just say yes?"_

_She nodded and said, "Yes, I did."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yes, really."_

"_You'll really go with me?"_

"_For the last time, I said yes, you daft idiot. Are you trying to change my mind?" She asked this with an extremely amused expression._

"_NO! Merlin, no. I just never imagined..."_

_She was clearly curious. "Then why keep it up?"_

_He shrugged. "Some dreams just won't die."_

_She looked at him, startled. "What do you mean?"_

_He took her hand, hesitantly at first, then with increasing confidence when she didn't pull away._

"_Lils, ever since I saw you the first time on the platform at King's Cross, I have been head over arse in love with you. I just never knew how to tell you before, so that I didn't sound like an utter pillock."_

_She replied with a teasing smile. "You're still a pillock. But I have to admit, on you, it's cute."_

_The scene swirled again, before resolving into what was obviously the vast lawn in front of the entrance to Hogwarts._

_It took only a moment for him to register that all of the people he saw were gathered for a wedding. There looked to be well over a hundred people assembled, all in their most elegant finery, clothes even nicer than he'd seen at the Yule Ball in his fourth year. He wondered for less than a minute who the couple would be, until he looked to the altar. James Potter was at the center, with Sirius and Remus next in line. All three were the only ones Harry saw wearing muggle clothing, tuxedos complete with tails. They even had the walking sticks to go with them. After a few moments, he heard the opening strains of the Wedding March, and the other half of the wedding party came into the scene._

_Lily Evans, escorted by the diminutive Professor_ _Flitwick, entered after her bridesmaids. Every eye was fixed on her, but none more so than James. He was absolutely transfixed, looking at the only woman who would ever matter to him. Her auburn locks were swept up into a bun, just a few tendrils falling loose to frame her delicate features. Her green eyes were alight with joy, as she returned the look that James sent her._

Harry didn't really notice any of the details of the ceremony, vows, what was said by Dumbledore as he presided, any of the little parts of the whole. All he could see, all he needed to see was the love the two of them obviously felt for each other. When the ceremony was over, and the newlyweds turned to each other for their first kiss as husband and wife, he felt Ginny's arm around his waist. Someday, when Voldemort was finally vanquished, he wanted to stand in front of his friends like this, proclaiming for all the world his love for the red-headed sprite beside him. He looked down at her, and silently vowed to himself that he would, somehow, do just that.

_As James and Lily Potter slowly broke off their first kiss as a married couple, the scene swirled once more, dropping the two teens into what seemed to be a waiting room at St Mungos._

_Just three chairs were occupied. James, Remus and Sirius were sitting, quite literally, on the edges of their seats. Occasionally, one would get up and pace around a bit before dropping back into his seat. Curiously, for such usually vocal men, none of them said a word, as if afraid to jinx whatever they were waiting for. Finally, a head poked out from behind a door at the other end of the room._

"_Auror Potter?" _

_James jumped from his chair, as if prodded by a very large, very sharp pin._

"_Yes?"_

"_Follow me, please."_

_The head disappeared behind the door, with James following closely behind. He was led down a corridor to a door marked 'Birthing Rm 12'. Harry followed his father through the door and saw his mother laying on a bed in the center of the room. James Potter was in awe as he gazed down upon his wife, holding their newborn son in her arms. She looked exhausted, but very happy. As James approached, she looked up at him._

"_He's the very image of you, right down to your hair."_

_He gingerly drew a finger along his son's cheek. Small eyes opened for just a moment, causing James to gasp._

"_He's got your eyes though, Lils."_

_She chuckled tiredly. "Well, at least he has something of me to him. Would you hold him for a moment, so I can shift position a bit?"_

_Carefully, as if afraid of breaking his son, James took the baby boy, cradling him in the crook of his arm as he'd seen Lily do. The small head drooped a bit, chin dropping to chest._

_James softly laid a kiss on his son's head. "Welcome to the world, Harry James Potter."_

_Once more, the scene changed, this time to a small room. There was a crib with a mobile hanging over it, hippogriffs, griffons, dragons, pegasi, and all other manner of magical creatures hanging from it. The wall was decorated with snitches, broomsticks, bludgers, quaffles, and all the other things associated with quidditch. In the crib was a baby boy, no more than six months old. He woke suddenly and looked around_, _a fearful look in his wide emerald eyes. When he saw that there was no one there to hold him, he opened his mouth and let loose with a quite impressive yell. _

Ginny later teased him a bit about this, saying that lung power has to be there from birth, and that she'd known it all along.

_In short order, Lily came rushing into the room to pick him up and comfort him._

"_My sweet Harry, what is it, little mockingbird?" She murmured to him, trying to calm him. Nothing was working, though. Finally, she settled into a rocking chair in the corner of the room and started singing to him._

_Hush, little baby, don't say a word._

_Momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird._

_If the mockingbird won't sing,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a diamond ring._

_If the diamond ring turns into brass,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a looking glass._

_If the looking glass gets broke,_

_Momma's gonna buy you a billy goat._

_If the billy goat runs away,_

_Momma's gonna buy you another today._

_Brilliant emerald eyes drifted shut as he fell asleep, safe in his mother's arms. _

**A/N:** Both of us are very sorry for the extremely long delay in updating. It's been entirely too long since our last chapter was posted. It won't be anywhere near that long before the next chapter is up, really. Bill's working on two new chapters for LCaS, and Lori's working on outlining a new story. Don't worry though, as that won't interfere with this one. Posting on the new story won't start until the first few chapters are written, as well as significantly more of this story being posted.


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